Stairway To The Stars
by Sese Daniels
Summary: My name is Nova Lise, and after moving to Alola, my cousin Kukui decided I need a babysitter to make sure I don't get lost on my journey and essentially give me a crash course on being a Pokemon Trainer. It was the absolute worst idea he's ever had. Said babysitter's name is Altair Knight, and that jerk is so infuriatingly perfect at everything that it drives me insane. [OC x OC]
1. Chapter 1

Finding someone who makes us happy is unnerving. We begin to give that person our undivided attention, because they are the ones who make us forget about all of the bad around us and focus only on the good. They are the first person we want to talk to when we wake up in the morning, just so we can start and end each day with a smile. Having that special someone sounds great, but it's scary to always know just how easily they could leave and take that happiness we shared together along with them.

Especially when abandonment is what we fear most of all.

So to keep ourselves from getting hurt, we disappear instead. If we leave, you have to find us. You do the worrying, and your heart is the only one that's broken.

Because we closed ourselves off and didn't give our hearts to you to begin with.

"STOP! STOP RIGHT THERE!"

The sixteen-year-old girl clutched her barrel-shaped bag close to her chest as she sprinted down bleach-white hallways of a sickeningly-clean research facility devoid of all color. Her long, pale blonde hair flew about wildly as the girl dressed in all white panted heavily as her breath began to give out, running as fast as her legs would carry her. Turn left, turn right, run down this hallway... The girl kept on going as she clutched that bag close to her chest, knowing that if she stopped running now, it would all be over.

The mysterious girl stepped onto an open elevator in the shape of a triangle and quickly slammed her palm down on the red button, taking the elevator up to the next floor. She was instantly surrounded by lush trees, plants, and Pokemon exhibits inside of what appeared to be one large conservatory, and the girl took began sprinting once more in her pale blue Mary Janes, white sundress, and large, white, floppy hat. The pokeball-themed barrel bag she clutched so tightly began to rustle and make noises as she dashed down one of the walkways in-between all of the vegetation, and she came to a slow stop at an intersection as she paused to decide where to go next.

Two men dressed in all white uniforms raced around a corner and spotted the mysterious girl standing there, and twisted smirks crept onto their faces as they bolted forwards and gunned for her.

The girl widened her eyes in panic and quickly ran down a different walkway in attempt to escape the men chasing her, and her bag shook and made distressed and frightened noises all the while.

The girl skidded to a complete halt at the next intersection as two more men dressed in the same uniform appeared in the walkway she was about to run to, and as she turned around in a complete circle, more and more of these men were blocking every single exit and beginning to close in on her. The girl took a step backwards in fear, reaching up to grab the brim of her sun hat as she looked at each and every one of the frightening men's cold, dead eyes. Her bag rustled as they began to corner her, and the zipper suddenly opened itself from the inside of the bag.

An indigo light burst from within the bag, and as both the girl and the men inching closer to her looked towards the light in shock, everything around them became engulfed in the blinding, purple-blue light.

* * *

Three months later...

"Agh, this is so annoying... Come on, work already!"

A frustrated, nineteen-year-old girl gently smacked the screen of her iPad as it spazzed out yet again, trying to answer the incoming Skype call coming from her cousin. She sat at her desk with her iPad propped up with its foldable case, and her long, curly, shock-white hair was put up into a high ponytail as she wore leisurely workout clothes consisting of a pastel yellow tank top and black yoga pants.

 _"Hang on now, just gimme a sec..."_ The Skype call went through, and the image of a tanned, muscular guy wearing an open lab coat with no shirt on underneath, green-framed sunglasses, and a white baseball cap came onto the screen as he adjusted his camera to focus on him straight-on. _"There! I got it!"_

The girl's mouth upturned ever so slightly into a tiny grin. "It's about time you figured this thing out, Kukui."

Kukui, the professor on the call _and_ the girl's cousin, scratched at his goatee sheepishly. _"Sorry, Nova. Took me a sec' to get this thing workin', yeah, but I got it now!"_

The girl, Nova, blinked her brilliantly orange eyes as a cynical laugh escaped her lips. Her eyes were a transfixing glittering mix of yellow and orange that looked like they had trapped within them the burning fire of the sun itself as it set down on the hills of a valley.

Professor Kukui clapped his hands together in excitement as he looked at his cousin on screen, who bore no physical resemblance to him whatsoever, especially with her milky-white skin. _"So, the day has finally come that you're moving to Alola!"_

Nova's smile turned down into a bitter frown as she looked down at her carpeted floor, which was currently covered in several cardboard boxes stacked one on top of another. "Unfortunately..."

 _"Hey, don't be so glum, yeah! I promise you'll love it here, cousin!"_ Professor Kukui grinned brightly, trying to make Nova catch some of his infectious positivity.

It worked a little, because Nova's frown disappeared and was replaced with a somewhat neutral expression. "So, you wanted to tell me more about Alola before we fly out tonight, right?"

 _"Yeah!"_ Professor Kukui gave her a big thumbs-up as that irreplaceable grin never left his face. _"Alola is a region made up of several islands."_ A light brown dog-like Pokemon suddenly jumped up onto Professor Kukui's lap as he was talking, interrupting the conversation by pouncing his Trainer in attempt to repeatedly lick his face, which caused Nova to laugh. _"Rockruff, can you wait until I'm done talkin' to play!?"_ Professor Kukui laughed as he fought off his friendly Pokemon, and Nova just shook her head at this ridiculous display.

"He seems friendly." Nova smiled a little, crossing her arms as she leaned back in her desk chair.

 _"Yeah, a little too friendly, if you ask me!"_

Nova let out a tiny, quiet laugh to herself as she watched her cousin struggle to push Rockruff out of his lap, which he did eventually succeed in doing.

After five minutes of several hilarious attempts.

Professor Kukui looked off screen for a moment as the sound of a door opened and closed, and then he seemed to be in a rush all of a sudden as he wrapped up the conversation. _"Alright, Nova, I've gotta introduce you to everybody, so can you send me a photo to use for your Trainer Passport?"_

Nova blinked her eyes as she processed his question, then picked up her phone and opened up the camera function. "Yeah, sure. Hold on..."

Professor Kukui picked up his phone and looked at the lock screen to see that he had just received the picture Nova just took of herself and texted to him, and he gave her another thumbs-up. _"Got it! I'll let everybody out here know you're on your way!_

Nova's rarely-to-ever-be-seen smile disappeared from her face once more as she stone-faced looked back at the screen once more. "Alright, I'll see you soon, Kukui..."

 _"Wait, Nova!"_ Professor Kukui quickly interrupted her, looking over his shoulder at what appeared to be a person who walked into the room for a brief second, but was out of the camera's shot.

"Hmm?" Nova blinked her eyes repeatedly, looking a little confused as she stared at her cousin.

Professor Kukui seemed to change his mind about something as he looked back at her again and shook his head. _"...ah, it's nothin'. I'll introduce you to him later. Can't wait to see you in person again, cousin!"_

Nova screwed her face up in confusion as she opened her mouth to speak. "Introduce me to who...aaaand he just hung up on me." She frowned bitterly to herself, seeing that the call between them had been disconnected by none other than her scatterbrained cousin, and her screen faded to black. "Great. Now I'll have to die of curiosity for the next twenty-four hours."

"Nova, come help me with these boxes!"

Nova's entire body just froze at her mother's booming voice coming from out in the living room, and she exhaled sharply as she slid her chair back and stood up from her desk. "Alright, Mom. I'm coming."

The white-haired girl walked towards her door and began to step out of it, then suddenly hesitated and looked back at the inside of her bedroom over her shoulder. All of her belongings down to every last picture frame were packed into several boxes, and all of the memories she had created here in this room over the past six months were about to be left behind and inevitably forgotten once again.

Nova sighed as she flicked off the light, then walked out of her bedroom yet again without a single word.

* * *

 **ATTENTION: I HIGHLY ADVISE EVERYONE READ THROUGH MY AUTHOR'S NOTES AT THE END OF EACH CHAPTER!** **It's not like I put these here for my health;;; _ come on, guys. I answer important questions in these that you may have, and it won't kill you to quickly read them.**

 **Ahem. Anyways...here we go!**

 **Hello everyone, and welcome to my Pokemon Sun & Moon fanfiction! Although, it's more of a Pokemon Sun fanfiction, if anything...**

 **For those of you who are new readers who just happened to click on this book, hello, and welcome!**

 **For all of my regular, returning readers, hi guys! The book has been officially released!**

 **So, let's get a few things out of the way here first.**

 **1) This book is starring two main original characters, but all of the cannon characters in the game will still be in this story.**  
 **2) This isn't a word-for-word recount of what happens in the game. This will be a very intense, emotional book that relates to real-life problems people deal with every day, and it will be an amazing read! You'll see! I've worked really hard designing this book! :)**  
 **3) Yes, this is a romance novel. There will be a main ship that will drive you crazy and make you freak out over them. Do you guys know me at all? XDDDD**  
 **4) You do not need to have played either Pokemon Sun or Moon to understand and/or follow this story, but a general knowledge of Pokemon is required! :)**  
 **5) This is a Pokemon Sun & Moon fanfiction. It's based on the games. Will there be spoilers for the games in here? YES. Literally the entire book is based off the game, so it's all like one big spoiler XD read at your own risk. **  
**6) This book is rated PG-13 due to dark themes and strong language, but it's nothing you haven't seen before if you've read my other books. Again, read at your own risk.**

 **Okay, now that we've got THAT out of the way...**

 **Ground rules: do not, and I repeat** _ **do NOT**_ **review on this story begging me to update. I hate those.**

 **Seriously, I put that statement right there in every book's first author's note, and yet those comments still happen and STILL drive me crazy^^^**

 **Disclaimer: BLAH BLAH BLAH I DON'T OWN POKEMON OR ANY OF THAT SHIT. Goodness, I've written so many of these now that this is like my 20th book or whatever XD**

 **Claimer: I own all OCs, changes to the plot, and all that jazz. You guys know the drill. Steal my own original content and/or characters and I will kill you.**

 **Anyways, to wrap up this super long note, I just want to thank you guys for clicking on this book, and I PROMISE you that you will enjoy it! :) the next chapter will be coming soon, but has no set release date!**

 **Read, review, and enjoy the story!**


	2. Chapter 2

The moon glowing brilliantly in the sky slowly began to fall, and as the stars disappeared for the day, the sun rose above the horizon and colored the heavens with bright, warm shades of pink and orange. The clocks in Alola ticked as hours went by, and the sun rose to its highest point in the bright blue sky as soon as noon hit.

A little boy around the age of six was playing in his front yard with his Yungoos, laughing as they played tag together. The boy dashed across the grass in pursuit of his Pokemon, and he cheered in victory when he managed to tag the incredibly fast mongoose-Pokemon after several failed attempts. The sound of dirt crunching beneath someone's feet on the main dirt road in front of the boy's house suddenly caught his attention, and as he looked up to see who was coming his way, he smiled and waved excitedly.

"Altair! Altair!" The little boy ran over the the twenty-year-old coming his way, super excited to see the Alolan legend as he bounded up and down with high energy.

The young man who stood at an impeccable height of six-foot-four-inches with short, spiky black hair and purple eyes as deep and dark as the midnight sky, chuckled as the little boy crashed into his long legs and tugged on his rugged black jeans. "Whoa there! Be careful, you nearly just knocked me over!"

"Sorry, Altair..." The little boy apologized with a sheepish look on his face, and he looked up at the very handsome young man, Altair, who was currently sporting a very worn, black leather jacket over a white tank. "Hey, do you think you could teach me and Yungoos how to work together like real Pokemon Trainers do?"

"What are you talking about?" Altair furrowed his brow in confusion as he reached down and pat the kid on his shoulder. "You already are a real Pokemon Trainer, kiddo."

The little boy widened his eyes in awe as he looked up at Altair. "R-really!?"

Altair smiled sweetly to the kid as he continued to walk on down the road, keeping his back to the kid as he spoke. "Of course. Any kid who's got a Yungoos who looks at his Trainer like _that_ is a real Pokemon Trainer." He paused, then turned to look back over his shoulder at the young boy to say something before he resumed walking again. "And any time you need help training, you know where to find me. Stop by any time."

The little boy looked down at his Yungoos beside him, taking notice of the love in his Pokemon's eyes as he looked up at his little Trainer. The boy turned and watched Altair go with a giant grin on his face, vigorously waving to the tall young man as he walked away. "Thank you!"

The little boy resumed playing tag after he watched the Alolan legend go, and Altair made his way down the dirt road before he stopped in front of a rather large house with a "for sale" sign in front that now had the word "sold" painted across it diagonally in bold red letters. There was something about the house that made Altair stop in his tracks just to look at it, but he didn't know what. He stared at the house for a moment before taking a left turn and making his way down a little hill towards a small hut on the beach, and every single person he passed by waved with smiles on their faces and said hello to Altair. The twenty-year-old smiled and waved back as usual, and was now just mere steps away from his destination.

Meanwhile, inside of the hut...

Professor Kukui was in the middle of a Skype call with his little cousin Nova when the front door to his lab suddenly opened and closed. He looked off screen for a moment, spotted the man who walked in, and then quickly tried to wrap up the conversation."Alright, Nova, I've gotta introduce you to everybody, so can you send me a photo to use for your Trainer Passport?"

Professor Kukui watched his cousin fiddle with her phone to snap a picture of herself with. _"Yeah, sure. Hold on..."_

Professor Kukui's phone dinged, and he looked down and saw that he had just received the picture Nova sent him, and he gave her a quick thumbs-up. "Got it! I'll let everybody out here know you're on your way!

 _"Alright, I'll see you soon, Kukui..."_

"Wait, Nova!" Professor Kukui quickly interrupted her, looking over his shoulder at Altair, who had just walked into the main room of the lab where Professor Kukui was currently talking on his Skype call with Nova.

 _"Hmm?"_

Professor Kukui looked at her confused face and suddenly changed his mind, then just shook his head. "...ah, it's nothin'. I'll introduce you to him later. Can't wait to see you in person again, cousin!"

Nova screwed her face up in confusion at that. _"Introduce me to who..."_

Professor Kukui abruptly hung up the Skype call on Nova, and he leaned back in his desk chair and stretched his arms leisurely as he spoke to the person behind him. "I was wonderin' when you'd stop by, yeah!"

Altair opened up the can of soda he had just taken out of Professor Kukui's fridge and walked over to the man himself. "Who were you talking to when I walked in?"

Professor Kukui turned around in his chair to face the young man with an excited grin on his face. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about when I asked you to stop by today."

"Oh?" Altair quirked an eyebrow at this, very intrigued now.

Professor Kukui closed the tab for Skype on his computer as he spoke. "That was my little cousin Nova, you see. She's moving here to Alola today, yeah, and I was hoping to ask you a favor..."

Altair seemed eager to help the professor in any way he could as he sat down in the chair opposite of him. "Sure. What do you need me to do?"

Altair listened to Professor Kukui's request with his full, undivided attention, and the task he was just given was going to be a little difficult for him. Although the poor boy had no idea _how_ difficult just yet...

As Professor Kukui finished up the conversation with the young man, Altair got up and waved good-bye before leaving the professor's lab. If he was going to help Professor Kukui with what he asked of him, he needed to go home and prepare. Professor Kukui took in one deep breath to relax as Altair walked out the front door and closed it, and as he closed his eyes, he felt the very familiar feeling of a not-so-tiny-anymore Rockruff jump up onto his chest and knock the wind out of him.

"Oof!" Professor Kukui exhaled sharply as he felt his breath get chased away by Rockruff's paws pressing down on his stomach, and he shook his head at his energetic Pokemon as he coughed out his next words. "Rockruff...ack...don't surprise me like that!"

"Ruff!" Rockruff barked excitedly and licked his Trainer's face, wagging his tail a mile a minute.

As Professor Kukui laughed and tried to push Rockruff away from his face as he caught his breath, he sighed a little under his breath as he shared a rhetorical thought with himself out loud. "I hope Nova won't be too upset with me when she hears about this, yeah..."

* * *

"Oof!" Nova plopped the last box down in her new room with a heavy thud, and she leaned up against the stack of boxes as she paused to catch her breath. "Finally, all moved in..."

"Ahh, can't you just feel that warmth? It's officially our first day spent under Alola's sun!"

Nova heard her mother excitedly admiring the weather from outside on the wraparound porch, and she pushed open the sliding doors and lingered in the doorway that lead out to where her mother stood by the porch's railing. Nova glanced at the lush green grass that covered her new house's entire front yard, as well as a few palm trees here as there. Everywhere you looked there was green, and more green. Berry trees, palm trees, bushes of brilliantly multicolored tropical flowers... And the entire place smelled like a refreshingly sweet, salty-sea breeze.

Nova held her open hand above her eyes to block out the sun's harsh glare as she looked took in the scenery. "It's so warm and bright here..."

"Yeah, you think?" Nova's mother, the older woman with tanned skin and dark brown hair that met her lower back, turned around to smile at her daughter. "Nothing like our last home back in Kanto. But that's enough of that!" She paused and excitedly clapped her hands, smiling brightly. "Time to unpack all of these boxes."

Nova shook her head when she noticed her mother had already acclimated to the island's culture based on her new wardrobe, which consisted of a long, green floral skirt, and a light yellow top. She wasn't surprised by this at all. "What do you want me to help with?"

"Ah, don't worry about the rest of the house so much." Her mother batted her blue eyes and casually waved her daughter off with a smile. "I just want you to focus on unpacking your room first."

"Are you sure?" Nova widened her eyes in surprise, not expecting her mother to be so lax about unpacking. Usually, Nova couldn't leave the house for the next few days after they finished a move because she had to help unpack every last box. "I can help unpack the other boxes too..." Nova reached back and grabbed the back of her neck, awkwardly staring at her mother as she just waited to see if she would change her mind.

Her mother laughed a little and smiled, and then dismissed Nova with the wave of her hand. "Oh, it's alright, Nova! Just get your room all set up first, and I'll worry about the rest. I just want you to get that set up before you get going with Kukui later."

"Okay..." Nova warily complied with her mother's wishes, finding it strange that she didn't have to help much, but she wasn't about to complain.

Nova stepped back into the house and closed the sliding door behind her, and she numbly passed by the furnished living room with yellow walls and walked up to her bedroom door. She paused and closed her eyes before lightly resting her forehead on the closed door, dreading the inevitable: going in and unpacking.

Nova slid the door open and stepped inside before quickly shutting it behind her, and she heaved a heavy sigh at just the _sight_ of all those cardboard boxes.

The room was so plain. Four pastel yellow walls, one window, a simple white desk and a matching chair, a tiny closet that could fit maybe one person in there, and a full sized bed with no bedding on it just yet. This room was going to need a lot of work, alright...

Nova instantly got to work and tore into each of her boxes. First, she pulled out her white pillows and comforter to make her bed with. Then, she went through every box of clothes and hung up each and every article of clothing, and then lined up all of her shoes along the bottom of the closet. Hours went by as she unpacked all of her miscellaneous trinkets and necessities, and by the time she was done, all that was left was to hang up all of her old pictures and prop up her picture frames on her desk.

Nova reached into the box with all of her old pictures and pulled out the largest one: the last family portrait her family ever took before her father suddenly disappeared when she was ten. In the photo, Nova was sitting on her father's shoulder in-between her parents, smiling and laughing without a care in the world as her parents looked up at her with the same warm expression. Nova looked nothing like her mother, but her father, however, was a different story. He had shock-white hair and fair skin as well, but he had green eyes. Her mother had dark brown hair, tanned skin, and blue eyes. Nova had no idea where she got her sunset-colored eyes; it was like they were all her own. The white hair was genetic, though.

Nova put the picture back in the box and decided not to hang it up again. She hadn't hung it up in the last six houses she had lived in, but of course, her mother just kept slipping that photo back into Nova's box of pictures, hoping that maybe one day she would display pictures of her father again.

Nova left any pictures of her young self smiling in photos with her father inside the box, but pictures of her mother and other family members, like Professor Kukui, were hung up on the walls and displayed on her desk.

"Here we go again..." Nova broke down the last empty box and added it to the large pile next to her door before jumping into her bed and lying down flat on her back. She rested her hands on her chest and lightly shut her eyes, relaxing as she let her mind wander for a moment.

She layed on her bed in silence for what felt like an eternity. How many times were they going to do this? Just pack up and leave home after home again? Nova had lost track of every place in the world they had lived, or how many times they moved. Once she hit double digits, she stopped counting. A few years ago she would've been missing her last home right about now, but once you move from place to place as much as Nova had, you become numb to these sort of feelings. What is a home? No idea. Friends? Long-distance friendships never last.

It was a very...lonely way to live.

And Nova had lived that way for most of her life.

A sudden knock on her door woke Nova up from her thoughts, and she heard her mother's voice pour in from the other side. "So, Nova... Are you excited to meet some Alolan Pokemon? I hear their different colors are pretty cool! And some of them even look a little different, too."

Nova rolled her eyes as she slowly sat up in her bed. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Oh, Nova... Don't be like that." Nova's mother opened the door to her daughter's bedroom and looked disappointed as she walked in. "I know you're upset about the move, but let's try and be positive about this!"

"Be positive about what?" Nova snapped bitterly as she crossed her arms over her chest and remained seated on her bed. "The fact that we're probably going to move again within the year once you get bored of this place too?" She shot her mother a scrutinizing glare, completely annoyed with her. "Mom, we've lived in every region in this world at least twice because of how restless you are."

Nova's mother seemed to be at a loss for words as she grabbed the back of her neck and looked down and off to the side of the room. "I know, honey, and I'm sorry to put you through all of that... But, I'm sure you'll make some great friends here too!"

Nova just shook her head and looked off to the side. "Yeah, but how long will they last is the question..."

Nova's mother was heartbroken to see her daughter so upset, and she frowned a little as she spoke. "...if it makes you feel any better, I feel really good about this place, especially since a good part of our family lives here too. I plan to stay for a while, Nova."

Nova looked up at her mother with cold, dead eyes. "That's what you said about the past twelve houses we've lived in too, Mom."

"Come on, Nova..." Nova's mother exhaled in frustration as she tried to uplift the conversation with some positive energy. "We're living in the Alola region now! We've never been here before. It's the beautiful islands that everyone wants to visit!" She nudged her daughter a little in attempt to cheer her up. "I really think you'll like it here."

Nova just sighed and crossed her arms as she stared down at the floor. "I liked where we lived in the other regions, too..."

Nova's mother understood why her daughter was so upset, but she continued to try and uplift her spirits with all the positive things about them moving to Alola. "Well... This time around, you can finally start your Pokemon journey here in this region. I'm sure the Pokemon living in a place like this must be friendly, right?"

"I guess..." Nova stood up from her bed and walked over to the giant pile of broken down boxes. "If you don't mind, I'm going to take these out to the recycling bin now."

"O-oh, okay..." Nova's mother awkwardly stepped out of the way as her daughter carried the huge stack of boxes past her and left the room, and she felt a little discouraged by how closed off her daughter was. "I guess we'll talk later, then..."

It only took Nova a second to realize she bit off more than she could chew with these boxes. Some of them were as big as her, even when broken down and folded, and Nova was five-foot-eight-inches tall. She crossed the living room as she headed for the side door in the kitchen, which lead out to one of the main roads where the trash cans and recycling bins were. The door was a standard open-and-shut kind of door, unlike most of the sliding doors throughout the house, and Nova struggled to twist the doorknob and just pushed the door open as hard as she could so she wouldn't drop the large stack of boxes she was holding.

Meanwhile, a certain young man by the name of Altair was walking down one of the dirt road paths as he came from the professor's lab, and as he passed by that recently sold house he was looking at before, a door suddenly swung open with impeccable force and smacked him _right in the face._

"OW!"

Nova screamed at the loud thud she just heard from the door and dropped all of her boxes, and her eyes widened in horror as she heard someone groan and fall to the floor. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" She practically flew out the door and fell to her knees beside the young man she hit with the door, and she worriedly looked at his face that was currently covered by his hands. "Are you alright!?"

Altair groaned in pain as he covered his face with his hands, and he moved them just to touch his painfully-throbbing nose as he sat up. Unfortunately, he did hear Nova come to see if he was alright, but he didn't see where exactly she was due to his eyes being closed, and they promptly _smacked their foreheads together_ as Altair quickly sat straight up.

"Ouch!" Both Nova and Altair cried out as their foreheads clonked together painfully, and they each reached up to grab where their heads smacked together.

"Ah, sorry..." Altair winced as he gripped his forehead, and he leaned forwards toward the girl sitting next to him to see if she was okay. "Are you alright?"

Nova's eyes were shut tight from the initial impact of their foreheads colliding, and she slowly opened her eyes as she gripped her throbbing skull to look at who was staring at her with a look of concern.

And in this moment, the young man and woman finally locked their gazes on one another, and as sunset-orange eyes met midnight-purple ones, and curly white hair clashed with spiky black hair, the two instinctively just stared at each other in silence for a moment.

"Oh, sorry..." Nova caught herself awkwardly staring at the handsome stranger whose nose she just nearly broke with a door, and as her pain began to ebb away, she looked into his eyes that were this alluring, polar opposite of her own. "I'm okay... Are you? Again, I'm really sorry about that...!"

Altair just looked at her and started to laugh, which just earned a deeply confused look from Nova, only causing him to laugh even more. "I'd be lying if I said that didn't hurt, but I'm sure it will go away in a few minutes..." He stretched upwards and stood up from the grass, and he held his hand out for Nova to take. "Here, let me help you up."

Nova looked unsure of herself as she looked at his face, and she awkwardly took a hold of his big, strong hand as he pulled her up to her feet. "Thank you. Are you sure you're okay? Do you want to come in for a bit so I can give you an ice pack or something...?"

Altair looked down at the strange white-haired girl with an infectious, charming smile on his face. "I'll pass. I'm kind of in a hurry to get somewhere, anyways."

"O-oh, alright." Nova blinked in shock as he just dusted himself off and walked right past her, carrying on his way as if nothing had just happened at all.

Altair paused, then turned to look back at Nova with an amused smirk on his face. "Next time, maybe you should look out that door's window before you slam it into some poor guy's face."

Nova's whole face lit up red in embarrassment as the laughing Altair walked away from her, and she just gripped her hair and tugged on it angrily as steam practically shot out of her ears. "Oh, you...! It's not like I hit you on purpose! UGH!"

The sound of the doorbell ringing brought Nova's attention back to the inside of her house, and she heard her mother call out to her from inside as Nova threw the boxes in the recycling bin and shut the door behind her on her way in. "Was that the doorbell? That's got to be Kukui. Nova, will you let him in?"

Nova just rubbed her aching forehead and shut her eyes briefly as she walked towards her mother. "Why bother? You know he's just going to walk right..."

"Hey there, Nova!" Professor Kukui threw the front door open with a loud slam, marching right into the front room."

"...in." Nova awkwardly completed the thought that was just interrupted by Professor Kukui suddenly letting himself in with a bitter expression on her face.

"Good to see you again, cousin!" Professor Kukui grinned brightly as he gave Nova a bone-crushing hug, which caused the young girl to gasp for air slightly.

Nova looked a little dizzy as if stars were circling her head the moment Professor Kukui let her go and set her back down on the floor. "Hi, Kukui... Good to see you too."

"You gotta be tired after that long trip all the way out here to Alola!" Professor Kukui laughed a little at the look on her face, and he peered down into her eyes as he spoke. "You feelin' any jet lag? We sure are a long way from Kanto out here in Alola. It's still daytime out here, yeah!"

Nova pressed her hand to her forehead in annoyance, still thinking about that awkward encounter she had with that snarky stranger just a moment ago. "A little, but I'll manage."

"Kukui!" Nova's mother walked into the room with a bright smile on her face, clapping her hands together in excitement. "Yes, we just arrived yesterday. We're still adjusting to the time difference."

"Hey there, Aunt Celine!" Professor Kukui grinned as he waved to her. "I just let myself in."

"Can't say I'm surprised." Nova's mother, Celine, just shook her head and laughed. "You're just like my sister in so many ways, Kukui."

"Really? You think so?" Professor Kukui couldn't help but beam at that, happy to hear it. "Well, I'm glad to hear that. I like to think that my mom and me are pretty similar."

"Of course you are similar." Celine laughed as she began to remember moments with her sister from the past. "Not only are you the spitting image of Celeste, but you've got her drive, too! I still remember seeing you battle the Indigo Gym Leaders back in Kanto all those years ago, you know! Just like how your mother did when she was your age."

"Ha, really!?" Professor Kukui was honored that his aunt remembered his Kanto challenge days as he placed his hands on his hips. "I was supposed to be visiting there to research Kanto Pokemon moves and all. I thought I knew a thing or two about battling, but those Kanto Gym Leaders proved me wrong! I don't know how my mom beat them all back when she was a hot-shot young Trainer."

"Aunt Celeste is one of the Elite Four in Kanto now, isn't she?" Nova looked to her mother for answers, but Professor Kukui answered her question instead.

"Yeah, sure is! Couldn't be more proud of her." Professor Kukui grinned brighter than the sun as he clapped his hands together.

"Celeste was always the battler when we were kids, while I was more of the traveling coordinator entering contests with my Pokemon." Celine recollected her childhood memories with her sister Celeste fondly. "Of course, now that I'm older and retired, all I have left of my dream team is Meowth." She glanced behind her at the small cat-like Pokemon on the ground, who looked up at the sound of his name being spoken.

"Meow!" Meowth chimed into the conversation, causing everyone to laugh at his impeccable timing.

Professor Kukui clapped his hands together to grab Nova's attention. "Hey now, Nova! As much as I love reminiscing about the past, why don't you and I get a move on to the next town over?" He clapped his cousin on the shoulder as he wore a face-splitting grin. "Time for you to meet the Island Kahuna and get yourself a Pokemon, yeah!"

"Wait, really?" Nova snapped her eyes wide open in shock, almost unable to believe what her cousin had just said. "He'll just... _give_ me a Pokemon? Just like that?"

"Yeah, sure." Professor Kukui waved off the Kahuna's immense generosity as if it were a completely normal thing. "The Kahuna who lives in Iki Town is always happy to give any kid who wants to have an adventure their first Pokemon, yeah."

"Kid...?" Nova let the word fall from her lips doubtfully as she stared at her cousin with a dubious look on her face. "...I'm nineteen, Kukui."

"Doesn't matter to the Kahuna, no worries. In his eyes, you're still a kid, Nova, hah!" Professor Kukui let out a loud laugh as he clapped his cousin on the shoulder again, causing Nova to almost fall forwards a little from the force of his strength.

"Ugh..." Nova groaned at the "kid" remark, hating to be seen as a child even though she was a perfectly grown young adult now.

"Cheer up, cousin!" Professor Kukui clapped Nova on the shoulder hard once again. "You're not the only one getting a Pokemon from the Kahuna today! Although, he _is_ quite a bit younger than you, since most kids in Alola start their challenge at age eleven..."

Nova sighed and just rolled her eyes. "Great, I'm already feeling old..."

"Hah, don't stress, cousin!" Professor Kukui laughed at how pessimistic she was. "The Kahuna gives out Pokemon to anyone who he sees fit. Just don't go challenging him, yeah! The Kahunas are crazy-strong Pokemon Trainers."

"Seriously...?" Nova quirked an eyebrow at this, unfamiliar with Alola's customs and hierarchy system.

"Yeah! In a sense, they're like the island's mini Pokemon Champion." Professor Kukui nodded his head, trying to explain Kahunas in a way that Nova could understand, since she was foreign to the Alolan islands. "They're unbeatable for folks like me and you!"

Nova just let out the breath she was holding as her posture slumped a little. "...great. No pressure or anything..."

"Hah! Come on, Nova." Professor Kukui impatiently gave Nova a little shove in the direction of her bedroom. "Hurry and get ready! Let's get goin' soon."

"Alright, hold on. I'll be right back." Nova turned and jogged towards her bedroom door, quickly sliding it open and stepping inside. She changed out of her simple exercise clothes from earlier and into a white sleeveless turtleneck, a black pleated skirt, and a simple black pair of strappy pumps with gold buckles. She grabbed her white bag with gold buckles off of her desk and slipped her Trainer passport and wallet inside, and Nova grabbed her little white sun hat with a black bow as she quickly walked out of her room with the intention of rejoining her mother and cousin at the front door.

"You look ready for anything now!" Celine gasped at how pretty her daughter looked as she put her hands together and pressed her fingers against her mouth. "Have a good time out there!"

"Bye, Mom." Nova gave her mother a simple wave as she walked out the door with her cousin, stepping out into Alola's sun for the first time since she moved in yesterday.

But this was only the beginning of her soon-to-be very, _very_ hectic first day.

* * *

 **I literally can't stop laughing at the meet-cute I picked for Nova and Altair XDDDDD it took me a while to finally decide how to make them initially first meet. Funny thing is, I've totally done that to people several times before because I'm such a klutz;;;**

 **...I can already hear all of you screeching and cheering because you've already been shipping Nova x Altair since chapter one, even though they hadn't even met yet;;; XD by the way, their ship name is** **NovairShipping** **. Just getting that out there XD**

 **Read, review, and enjoy the story! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

"Ow ow ow...! Go easy on me, please!"

"Oh, hush it, you. Don't be such a baby."

Altair winced as his mother gently pressed an ice pack to his forehead as he sat in a chair at the kitchen table. His mother, Aurore, worriedly knit her brow as she narrowed her eyes at her son. It didn't matter to her that he was twenty years old now and could take care of himself perfectly fine; he would always be her little boy, no matter how old he got, and she would look after him as much as she damn well pleased.

Aurore Knight had long, straight, ebony-black hair the same dark shade as her son's, but her eyes were a brilliant, bright green. His father, Orion Knight, shared his son's hair color as well, but his eyes were a soft, steely-grey. Altair's midnight-purple eyes seemed to come out of no where, and were all his own.

"Mom, easy on the ice, please..." Altair shot her a pleading look as a sheepish grin formed on his lips, and he reached up to take the ice pack from his mother.

Aurore let go of the ice pack and threw her hands up into the air in frustration. "Fine, fine! You win! I give up playing doctor!" She sighed sharply and turned to go back to finishing the load of dishes she had begun to wash _before_ her son had come barging in the side door and clutching his forehead in pain.

Altair laughed at his mother's huffy attitude as he removed the ice pack from his forehead, feeling much better now. "Sorry I worried you, Mom."

"How could you be so careless?" Aurore turned to look at him over her shoulder with nothing but concern written all over her face. "What if you got a concussion!?"

"Mom!" Altair cracked up laughing as his whole face was encompassed by an impossibly gorgeous, charming smile. "It's not like it was my fault I got smacked in the face with a door..."

Aurore paused for a moment as that fact processed through her mind before immediately conceding. "Yes, yes... You're right. I suppose it was that girl's fault, not yours."

"Don't blame her too much." Altair chuckled enchantingly as he stared down at his lap, thinking back to the look on the mysterious white-haired beauty's face when she hit him twenty minutes ago. "It was an accident, and she did apologize."

"What's this about a girl?"

"Oh, Orion!" Aurore turned her head to notice her husband had just walked in the front door, and she smiled to him. "You're home early."

Orion, Altair's father, hung up his pilot's cap on the hook at the front door as he walked in, still dressed in his full uniform. "Yeah, my flight didn't get delayed as I originally thought it would, so I'm back!"

"Hey, Dad." Altair waved to his father with the hand that currently wasn't holding an ice pack, which only caused Orion to take a closer look at his son's slightly bruised face and laugh.

"What the hell happened to you?" Orion chuckled as he stepped into the kitchen and took the seat next to his son, getting a closer look at Altair's red forehead. "All I heard was something about a girl."

"Well, you see..." Altair laughed as he began to explain, but his mother beat him to it.

"Some girl smacked our poor Altair in the face with a door when he was on his way home!" Aurore recalled her son's explanation of what happened in absolute horror, worriedly looking at her son.

Orion paused and looked between his wife and his son for a brief moment, then just cracked up laughing along with Altair, which only made Aurore more huffy. "Now how in the hell did _that_ happen?"

"It really doesn't matter; it was an accident." Altair gently pressed the ice pack to his forehead, smiling as he thought back to meeting that strange girl. "She was interesting, though. I'll give her that."

"What was her name?" Orion peered at his son's awe-struck face, recognizing that look anywhere. That was the look Altair got any time he met a person he found to be intriguing or interesting in any way.

"I..." Altair paused, then looked a little disappointed all of a sudden. "...have no idea. I was in a rush, so I didn't ask..."

"Pity." Orion frowned a little, patting his son on the back. "Clearly, she was interesting enough to leave an impression on you. The look on your face says it all."

Altair laughed a little at his father's comment, agreeing with him. "Yeah, she was definitely weird. She apologized and felt really bad, and then did a complete one-eighty and got fuming angry and embarrassed when I teased her about it."

Orion let out a good, hearty laugh at that. "Sounds like a fun girl to get to know. Maybe you'll bump into her again soon?"

"Well, if I do, I definitely won't have any problems recognizing her." Altair found himself smiling as he thought back to all the silly facial expressions the strange girl made, having found her to be a really amusing stranger to mess with. "I've never seen anything like them."

"Anything like what?" Aurore quirked an eyebrow at her son, not sure what he meant.

Altair rested his chin in the hand of his arm that was currently propped up on the table, looking out the kitchen window at the bright, sunny sky that reminded him of her. "Her eyes."

Aurore and Orion exchanged a quick, meaningful glance with one another as a tiny smile crept up onto their faces, and suddenly, the blur of a small girl came dashing into the room.

"Altair! You're home!" A little girl with bright blue eyes and black hair as deep and dark as charcoal came whirling into the kitchen with a Stufful in her arms, and she immediately jumped into the arms of her brother.

Altair let out a laugh as he immediately dropped the ice pack he was holding and effortlessly caught his nine-year-old sister in his arms, and he cradled both her and Stufful affectionately. "Hey, Pandora! How's my little Panda doing today?"

Pandora Knight sat up to face her brother and grinned brightly with her sparkling blue eyes, and her short pigtails reached the bottom of her chin. "I missed you so much! I wish you came home more..." She looked down and frowned a little, causing Altair to feel like his heart had just been run through with a knife.

"Ful!" Stufful whimpered a little, agreeing with his master.

Altair had a guilty look on his face as he exchanged a glance with his parents, who couldn't help but smile at the sight of their two kids getting along so well with one another as they always did.

Altair wrapped his big arms around his sister's frail body and gave her a tight hug. "I'm sorry I'm always gone, Pandora... It's just my job."

"I know..." Pandora snuggled closer and rested her head on her brother's shoulder, enjoying the warmth from his comfortable embrace. "But since you're home today, do you think you could play with me an' Stufful for a little and teach us some moves?"

Altair's heart sunk with how lonely his sister sounded, and he couldn't help but remember the favor Professor Kukui had asked him to do earlier. "Pandora, I really want to, but..."

"Please, Altair...?" Pandora cut him off and batted her eyes at him, sticking her lip out to pout a little.

Altair was floored by the adorable look on her face, and he just exhaled sharply as she completely won him over. "Alright, alright... I guess I could. But just for a little bit, okay?"

Pandora's whole face was lit up with the biggest, brightest grin that resembled the very same smile that Altair always wore. "Thanks, Altair! You're the best!" She squeezed him tighter and pressed her cheek against his, shutting her eyes in delight.

Altair sighed happily as he relaxed his posture, holding onto his sister. "I will always make time for you, Pandora. Always."

* * *

Meanwhile, back in front of Nova's house...

Professor Kukui shot Nova a meaningful glance as she stepped out the front door, looking in the direction of the house as he spoke. "Your mom there... She's sure looking forward to you getting your first Pokemon, yeah?"

Nova stepped off of her porch and onto the dirt road, sighing as she slightly pushed up the brim of her sun hat. "Yeah... She was really excited when she got her first Pokemon, so I guess she feels the same thing now seeing me get my own."

"Yeah, I can see that." Professor Kukui smiled and nodded his head, then turned to walk up the hill and ushered Nova to follow him. "Well, let's get going to Iki Town! Time for you to get a real nice Pokemon from the island Kahuna, oh yeah!"

Nova rolled her eyes and cut in curtly. "Don't be so dramatic."

"Haha, yeah! Sorry!" Professor Kukui grinned sheepishly as he walked up the hill in the direction of Iki Town, side-by-side with Nova. He looked around at all of the amazingly colorful tropical flowers, and all of the palm trees that gently swayed with the sea breeze. "Now this is more like it, yeah! Welcome to paradise, cousin. This is the Alola region!"

"It _is_ rather beautiful..." Nova looked around her at all of the colorful vegetation, never having seen anything quite like it before in any of the other regions she had lived in.

Professor Kukui reached up with his arms and stretched as they walked. "Folks here in Alola get along by living together with Pokemon and working together, too. After all... You can go anywhere, yeah, as long as you got Pokemon helping you out here." He grinned and gave Nova yet another strong clap on the back. "That's why we gotta get you to the Kahuna!"

Nova was nearly sent flying forwards by his sheer force, and she mouthed the word 'ow' as she reached up and massaged the shoulder blade Professor Kukui just smacked. "How far _is_ Iki Town, anyways?"

"Not far, if we cut up here." Professor Kukui pointed to a small fork in the road that took them further up a hill and off to the left. "Come on!"

Nova numbly walked alongside her cousin as he awed at all of the stunning nature around them, even though he had seen it all several times before, and she was only just seeing it for the first time now. She hated moving, and she didn't want to even bother getting too attached to this place. Who knew when her mother would want to pack up and move again? Sure, she was nineteen and could technically move out and live on her own now, but...

Then her mother would be all alone...

Nova was all Celine had in terms of family. Celine's only sibling was her sister, who lived in Kanto and was always so busy working in the Elite Four that she rarely had time for family. Nova's grandparents passed away years before she was even born, and then there was Kukui, Celeste's only child, who was native to the Alola region and lived here with his wife. Celine's ex husband was no longer in the picture, so her daughter Nova was really all she had left.

Nova just couldn't do that to her mother. After all, the reason they moved around so much was because Celine was restless and feared having people close to her walk out on her and suddenly disappear, just like her husband did nine years ago.

So...Celine kept them moving around in order to not have to worry about it.

Being alone was always so hard on her mother, and until she started her Pokemon journey, Nova had made a promise to herself to stay with her mother until then.

And today was now was that day. Honestly...she had mixed feelings about it.

Professor Kukui looked over at his cousin lost within her own thoughts and decided to try and break the ice. "So, Nova, you're lovin' Alola already, yeah?"

Nova looked off to the side of the road as they walked, disinterested in this conversation already. "...I guess."

Professor Kukui wasn't really fazed by that answer, having expected something along the lines of that from her already. "Hey, don't sweat it, cousin. It's pretty normal to feel a bit unsure when you're in a new place."

Nova's eyes dropped to the ground as she fell silent and didn't respond to her cousin. She stuck close to him as they walked, and as they passed by several islanders, each and every one of them stopped to wave to the both of them with friendly smiles on their faces. Nova shied away from their strange friendliness and walked closer to Kukui, who grinned and welcomed anyone's hello with a smile and a wave.

She just couldn't understand why everyone was so friendly here. Back in Kanto, a majority of people just kept to themselves and minded their own business. Having complete random strangers come up to her and say hello was just...weird.

Their short walk up the dirt path seemed to come to an end as they reached a small stone staircase leading up to a cute little village. Nova took notice of all the houses built in a circle around some sort of platform in the town up ahead, and Professor Kukui eagerly climbed the stairs and stopped at the top.

"And we're here!" Professor Kukui turned around to face his cousin as she ascended the stairs, stretching his arms out with a welcoming grin on his face.

"This is Iki Town...?" Nova stopped at the top and turned around in a full circle, getting in a good look at the place.

The green grass stretched on endlessly across the town, and red floral bushes surrounded each cottage built from dark brown wood and yellow roof tiles. Countless numbers of palm trees decorated the place and surrounded each house, and a little further into town was yet another small staircase built into the terrace-like terrain, accented by two chiseled stone tikis on each side. Those little stone tiki statues seemed to be everywhere in Iki Town, and just above the steps was a large open area decorated with a square wooden platform with steps on two of the sides opposite of each other. It almost looked as if it were a stage, and Nova couldn't quite figure out what it was used for just by looking at it. Towards the left at the edge of town was a rather lavish, large estate built in the same style of architecture as the rest of the little cottages, and Nova couldn't help but wonder what important person lived there.

As Nova turned in a circle and looked around, Professor Kukui looked straight ahead with a sense of pride as he rested his closed fists on his waist. "This town is where folks come to worship the Pokemon that watches over Melemele Island. Tapu Koko keeps us all safe and happy, see!"

"Tapu Koko...?" Nova snapped her head to look at Professor Kukui at the mention of the unfamiliar Pokemon, and she wore a look of confusion as she stared at him. She had certainly never heard of such a Pokemon before, or there being guardians of the islands.

Professor Kukui suddenly noticed how quiet and empty the town seemed, and he walked up to the second set of stairs and looked around in confusion. "Huh? What's goin' on here?"

Nova blinked as she stared at her cousin with a curious expression on her face. "What is it, Kukui?"

Professor Kukui knitted his brow and pressed a finger to his lips as he looked left and right once more. "We were supposed to meet everybody right here, yeah. And _he's_ late too... Where did that kid run off to?"

Nova screwed up her whole face in confusion at the mention of that last part. "He? Who are you talking about? Is he the same guy you mentioned yesterday...?"

Professor Kukui just sighed and shrugged his shoulders, letting it go. He failed to acknowledge Nova's question as he turned and looked at her. "Ahh, I'll just introduce you two kids later. He's probably just running late, or got caught up in something."

Nova sighed sharply and looked off to the side, rolling her eyes a little. "...that still didn't answer my question."

"I wonder where everyone else is?" Professor Kukui continued to not pay attention to Nova's complaints as he glanced around, pondering something. "Maybe they're all back there on Mahalo Trail..." His eyes wandered to a huge archway at the back of the town, which lead up to a giant spiral, stone staircase at the end of a long, grassy trail.

"Mahalo Trail?" Nova quirked an eyebrow in confusion, not following Professor Kukui's ramblings whatsoever.

"That's where the ruins of our guardian deity, Tapu Koko, are, yeah..." Professor Kukui briefly explained, then suddenly turned around with an exuberant grin on his face as he faced Nova once more. "Nova! Do me a solid?"

Nova was a little caught off guard by his sudden enthusiasm and took a cautious step back. "U-uh... Sure?"

"Go find the Island Kahuna!" Professor Kukui grinned and pointed in the direction of the large forested archway at the back of the town, then rested his hands on his waist. "I'll wait around here to make sure we don't miss each other."

"W-what!?" Nova snapped her eyes wide open in shock, frustrated by her cousin's impossible request. "But I have no idea what they look like!"

"The Island Kahuna?" Professor Kukui smirked wryly as he drew his head back warily. "You can't miss him. He looks just like a Kahuna!" He waved off her concern, as if what the Kahuna looked like was painfully obvious.

Nova's face fell into an intensely fed up stare as she slumped her posture. "...great. So helpful."

"See you in a bit, cousin!" Professor Kukui grinned and waved good-bye to her as she moodily stomped by him, heading in the direction of this supposed 'Mahalo Trail.'

Nova gripped the strap of her bag as she walked and rolled her eyes, waving to Professor Kukui sarcastically with her back turned to him. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be back in a few minutes...probably. It's not like this is an entirely new region to me or anything. But I'm sure I'll be fine by myself! Totally won't get lost or anything..."

The faint sound of Professor Kukui's hearty chuckle was the last thing Nova heard as she ascended the little staircase and began making her way towards the entrance of the trail. Just as she got up to the large platform in the middle of the town's plaza, she spotted the figure of a girl up ahead, who was standing right in front of the archway and lingering there.

Nova stopped where she stood as she stared in the mysterious girl's direction, tilting her head to the side a little. "Huh... That's odd. Who is...?"

The mysterious girl wore a floppy white sun hat with an extra wide brim, which was decorated by a pale blue ribbon tied around the center. She was dressed in a white, v-neck sundress with a baby blue collar and lace trim around the bottom, white knee-high socks with light blue lace tops, and powder blue Mary Janes. The mysterious girl had long, straight, titanium blonde hair that came down to the top of her back, and two braids framed the front of her face, as well as rather choppy bangs running straight across her forehead. She was carrying a Pokeball-themed barrel bag that was swung over her right shoulder, and Nova widened her eyes in surprise when she saw the bag suddenly shake on its own.

The mysterious girl looked down at her bag and began talking to it, which only made Nova grow more suspicious. "Really? You want to go up to the ruins? I don't know what you hope to find there..."

Nova watched as the strange girl walked ahead and suddenly disappeared somewhere inside Mahalo Trail, and she couldn't help but wonder...was that girl the Kahuna? She figured it couldn't hurt to catch up with her and ask. What was the harm, right? Even if she wasn't, maybe she knew who the Kahuna was.

Nova jogged to catch up to the girl, but the blonde had surprisingly been walking rather fast, and Nova was still quite a ways behind her. She didn't want to suddenly call out and startle her, so Nova quickened her pace and began climbing the spiral stone staircase all the way up to the top of the trail, which stopped at the edge of a cliff that had a long, rickety bridge running over a fast-moving ravine one hundred feet below, and the bridge connected to the other side where Nova could see the ruins Professor Kukui had briefly mentioned.

As Nova walked up behind the girl who had suddenly stopped a few feet away from the bridge, she was once again startled by the bag strangely shaking on its own.

"You can't come out! We'll get in trouble if anyone sees you." The blonde girl whispered in a harsh tone to her bag, causing Nova to grow a little concerned with the girl's sanity.

As Nova opened her mouth to speak to the girl, the zipper on the blonde's bag suddenly opened on its own, and a purple and blue blur of something escaped from the bag and immediately dashed out onto the bridge.

"No! Nebby, get back here!" The blonde girl grew intensely worried as she cursed her luck, helplessly looking out at the spot in the middle of the rickety bridge where the blur was now lingering.

Nova squinted her eyes in attempt to get a good look at whatever had suddenly just escaped the blonde's bag, and she was shocked to see what appeared to be a Pokemon of some sort. She had never seen anything like it before, so was this one of those Pokemon her mother mentioned earlier that were specific to Alola...?

The 'Pokemon' appeared to be a small, dark purple and royal blue bundle of stars with a smiling face on it, almost resembling a nebula. Two little (arms...?) stuck out at the top of the Pokemon's head, and a light blue little cluster of stars were at the end of them.

Nova was about to say something to the girl when all of a sudden, a fast whirling sound of wind abruptly whipping by her head startled her, and she watched as the figures of three Spearow rushed by her and immediately gunned for the strange Pokemon on the bridge.

"Oh no, Nebby, look out!" The blonde girl instantly panicked and began to tremble slightly the second she took a step closer to the bridge, and she seemed to be frozen in fear as she could only watch what was about to happen.

Nova instantly became alert as she watched the three Spearow attempt to dive-bomb the peculiar Pokemon, who was crying out in terror as it cowered in fear. "Pe-e-ew...!"

Nova walked forward and stepped on a small twig, and the abrupt snapping noise drew the attention of the blonde girl. "Ah... H-help... Save Nebby!" She locked her panicked green eyes with Nova and instantly found herself asking her for her assistance. "Those Spearow are attacking it! But...but I'm too afraid to go out there... My legs feel like they might give out..."

Well, she certainly didn't have to ask twice.

Before Nova even knew what she was doing, her legs moved with a mind of their own, and she ran across the ground towards the bridge. She stopped before stepping onto the rather shaky-looking bridge built out of very old, almost rotted wood, and she grasped the ropes on each side as she carefully began to step across each plank. She kept her eyes on the poor Pokemon in trouble as she warily began crossing the bridge, and Nova suddenly lunged forwards a little when one of the planks she had stepped on had given out beneath her. She quickly jumped to the next plank as she stared face-down at the ravine beneath her, and she reached up to place her hand over her racing heart to calm herself. Nova gripped the rope railings tighter as she nearly tripped over loose planks on the bridge two more times, and as she approached the peculiar Pokemon, she slowly knelt down and covered its small body with her own, shielding the crying Pokemon from the three Spearow that were circling above it.

"Agh...!" Nova winced as she felt the claws and beaks of the Spearow graze her back a few times as they dive-bombed her in attempt to get to the strange Pokemon, but she held out and braced herself for the pain in order to save the poor thing.

The little nebula Pokemon looked up at Nova, this complete stranger who had selflessly run out to save it, and was relieved by her bravery. It felt horrible that Nova was using herself to protect it, and as a stern expression crossed the Pokemon's face, it drew in a deep breath and began charging power.

Nova looked down at the Pokemon beneath her when she spotted a blueish-purple light out of the corner of her eye, and when she saw a ring of power suddenly begin to come from the Pokemon, she grabbed onto it tight as a giant orb of power exploded and surrounded both herself and the Pokemon, sending the Spearow flying away and simultaneously destroying the bridge that was underneath them.

Nova held onto the Pokemon tight and cried out in fear as they began to plummet all the way down to the ravine filled with sharp rocks and fast-moving currents, and as she squinted her eyes tight and braced for impact, she heard the blonde girl back up on the cliff scream in horror.

* * *

 **IT'S ONLY CHAPTER THREE AND I LEFT YOU WITH A CLIFFHANGER, YES, I KNOW XD Although it's not much of a cliffhanger for those of you who played the game.**

 **Regardless, I thought it was a FANTASTIC way to end the chapter XD I spoiled you too much with getting to see Altair being adorable and fawning over his cute little sister, so I _had_ to just leave you in suspense for a bit!**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	4. Chapter 4

Nova instinctively clutched the mysterious Pokemon tighter against her chest as they fell several feet, and as she felt her white sun hat go flying from her head, her eyes followed it all the way down until it was swallowed up by the dark water down at the pit of the ravine. She heard the blonde girl at the top of the cliff let out a shrill, high-pitched scream as she watched Nova and the Pokemon fall further and further to their deaths. The little Pokemon squirmed in Nova's arms as it cried out in terror, and as Nova shut her eyes in fear, they just continued to fall down.

Down, and down, and down...

Nova's whole life seemed to flash before her eyes as time slowed all around her, and just before she and the strange Pokemon hit the rocky surface covered in raging water, something flew into them at an incredible speed and rushed them back up to the top of the cliff.

Her shock-white bangs covered her eyes from the sudden impact of landing back on top of the cliff, and as Nova hesitantly pushed her hair from her face, she caught sight of a Pokemon she recognized from Alola brochures she was looking at on the plane: Melemele Island's very own guardian deity, Tapu Koko, who was holding her in its arms.

Tapu Koko let out a shrill, "Kooooooo!" as it carefully set down Nova and the mysterious Pokemon she was holding on to safely at the top of the cliff, placing them right next to the blonde girl before abruptly darting back up into the sky at an impeccable speed. It was gone within an instant, and a small, sparkling object fell from the sky and landed right next to Nova on the grassy floor.

Nova couldn't catch her breath as the mysterious Pokemon in her lap let out a delighted little, "pew!" in relief to being saved, and she heaved stressfully as she tried to calm her fast-beating heart.

"Oh... Oh, thank goodness!" The blonde rushed forward and stood in front of Nova, who was sitting on the grass with the mysterious Pokemon in her lap. "Are you okay!?"

Nova drew in one long, deep breath in order to calm herself. "I... I think so."

The strange little Pokemon squirmed excitedly in Nova's arms, and the blonde's face seemed to twist in annoyance as she looked at it.

"You tried using your power again...didn't you?" She scrunched her lips together into a pout, knitting her brow and crossing her arms over her chest as she let out a heavy sigh. "Oh, Nebby... You know what happened last time you used it. You couldn't move for ages after that. I don't want to see you like that again!" She snapped at the Pokemon, Nebby, who only seemed to deflate in shame within Nova's arms in response. The blonde's face relaxed into a grievous expression as she instantly regretted losing her temper. "No...I shouldn't say that. I'm sorry, Nebby... I know you were trying to save me that time... And I couldn't even help you in return..." She frowned and stared down at her feet, feeling ashamed of her incompetence.

Nebby grinned brightly as it appeared to instantly forgive the blonde girl, and it floated over to the small, sparkling object on the ground beside Nova. "Pew!" It looked down at the sparkling object, trying to draw the two girls' attention to it.

"What... What is that?" Nova slowly stood up from the ground and peered down at a peculiar stone glittering in the grass, and her white eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

"Pew pew!" Nebby jumped up and down excitedly with a blissful smile on its face.

The blonde girl looked puzzled as she walked over and picked up the strange stone, and she ran her thumb over its smooth surface as she got a closer look at it. "A sparkling...stone? It feels almost warm somehow..."

Nova dusted herself off as she looked to the mysterious girl and her strange Pokemon called Nebby, who was floating right by her feet now, as if it was accustomed to always sticking by her side. "Um... Are you two alright?"

The blonde seemed to realize something as Nova asked her that innocent question, and her timid, bright green eyes snapped wide open. "Oh! Please, forgive me... I am so grateful to you for helping us out of that dangerous spot." She grinned bashfully to Nova, who awkwardly did not know how to respond to that.

Nova reached back and smoothed out her white hair that had gotten tangled when her hat flew off during the fall, and she frowned a little as she accepted the fact that she was just never going to get it back. "Oh, it's alright, but... Who are you?"

Nova's question seemed to fall on deaf ears as the blonde turned to her and plopped the little stone in Nova's hand. "I think this stone must belong to you."

"What?" Nova's eyes widened in uncertainty as she looked down at the strange, sparkling stone that rested in her palm. "But I didn't drop this..."

Again, what Nova had to say appeared to have gone unheard by the blonde, because she just seemed to have a look of concern on her face as she looked up from the ground to meet Nova's eyes. "Please... Don't tell anyone about this. About seeing Nebby... It's...it's a secret, okay?"

Nova screwed her face up in confusion, not really caring either way. "Oh... Sure?"

The blonde looked down at Nebby hovering by her feet, opening up the barrel bag strung over her shoulder and ushering it to jump in. "Come on. Into the bag, Nebby."

"Pew..." Nebby cringed at just the thought of getting in the bag again, and it made a displeased expression as it reluctantly hopped back into her bag.

Nova was about to say something when the blonde abruptly zipped up her bag with Nebby inside of it and turned to walk away, but after taking a few steps, she stopped and turned back around. "Um..." She seemed uncertain as to whether or not she wanted to ask this of Nova as she met her brilliantly orange eyes. "I'm worried we might get attacked again by some wild Pokemon or...or something. I know it's too much for me to ask it, but... Do you think you could see us back to town?"

And for the first time that day, a tiny smile crept up onto Nova's face.

"Of course, I don't mind at all." Nova readjusted her bag on her shoulder as she walked over to the blonde and joined her at her side.

The blonde grinned brightly as she began to walk in step with Nova and head back down the trail once more. "Oh, thank you!"

* * *

Weird. If Nova were to describe the blonde girl in one word, that would be it. She was shy, timid, quiet... Nova didn't even know her name. The mysterious blonde girl didn't speak a single word as she walked back down Mahalo Trail alongside Nova, and the only sound they listened to as they returned to Iki Town were the annoyed little "pews!" coming from inside the bag that shook on its own occasionally. Clearly, whatever kind of Pokemon that was inside the girl's bag, it really didn't like being in there much.

As Nova stepped into the sunlight back in Iki Town, she was met with the only person she knew to be even weirder than the blonde girl currently at her side.

"Hey, Nova!" Professor Kukui jogged up to his little cousin with a naturally broad grin plastered on his face. "Looks like you missed the Kahuna, but you found my assistant, oh yeah!"

"Professor!" The blonde girl's whole face lit up as she beamed at him, glad to be back by his side.

"Assistant...?" Nova looked back and forth between the blonde girl and her cousin dubiously. This was the first she had ever heard of her cousin taking on an assistant.

Professor Kukui glanced at the two girls standing in front of him with a knowing look, smiling all the while. "Looks like you already met, but just in case, this is my assistant!"

The blonde jolted in surprise and turned to Nova suddenly, just now realizing she had yet to give her savior her name. "Oh...um...yes! You can call me Lillie."

Professor Kukui reached out and pointed to Nova with his outstretched palm. "And Lille, this here is my cousin: Nova. She just moved here to Alola, so take good care of her!"

The blonde girl, Lillie, looked at Nova with an all new sense of shy awkwardness. "So... _you're_ the professor's cousin? It's nice to meet you..."

Nova was getting ready to assure Lillie that she had nothing to be intimidated about, when suddenly, the townspeople around them began to start chattering noisily amongst themselves.

A little boy excitedly ran into town, waving his arms about wildly. "The Kahuna is back! Kahuna Hala has returned!"

The older woman that little boy had rushed by smiled brightly as she turned to the others around her. "Our guardian's chosen one is back!"

A young man punched the air with his fist as the supposed 'Kahuna' walked by him, entering town. "Only one of the strongest Pokemon users in all Alola, yeah!"

Nova's eyes involuntarily widened at the sight of a much older man in his early sixties walking through the town's path lined with excited citizens, who was dressed in a blue shirt, white shorts, blue and white sandals, and a yellow robe with a floral print on it. His grey mustache was turned up along with his giddy smile, and his grey hair was tied up into a high ponytail accented with a white scrunchy. A white belt tied around his waist had a hand fan wedged in-between it, and over all, the cheerful man carried a very powerful presence with him as he approached Professor Kukui.

The Kahuna walked up the steps and let out a hearty chuckle as he stopped in front of Professor Kukui. "Have I missed something?"

"Naw, but where'd you go off to, Hala?" Professor Kukui laughed along with him, then raised his arms as he asked his question. "I thought we were meeting here?"

"I am the Kahuna of this island, after all." Kahuna Hala smiled wryly at Professor Kukui as he spoke. "Whenever there is a problem on the island, it is my duty to resolve it." He paused when he noticed Lillie mumble his name along with something else under her breath, and he turned to face the timid girl with a welcoming grin. "Sorry, Lillie. What did you say? For some reason, I thought I saw Tapu Koko flying about..."

"Oh, um... Yes, Kahuna Hala..." Lillie straightened her slouched posture immediately when addressed by the Kahuna, but shyly stared at her feet as she spoke. "Nebby was being attacked by Spearow on the Plank Bridge when this girl helped it get away..." She looked up a little and met Nova's eyes, then warily looked back down to the ground. "But the bridge collapsed, and I thought both of them might fall to the bottom of the ravine... And that was when the island's guardian deity swooped in to save them!"

Nova seemed to get a splitting headache as her near death experience flashed before her eyes once again, and Professor Kukui strongly clapped her on the back as he let out a loud "woo!"

"Now _that's_ something you don't hear every day!" Professor Kukui grinned boyishly after listening to Lillie's story, _beyond_ excited by this turn of events.

Kahuna Hala let out a hearty chuckle as he looked at the strange white-haired girl before him. "Ho! Although it is said to protect us, our Tapu Koko is a rather fickle creature. And yet, our guardian was moved to save you." His kind eyes lingered on Nova for a moment as he got a good look at this inspiring girl, and he turned to the professor beside him. "Kukui, my boy, I think we have a cause to celebrate! It seems I should entrust this brave and kind young girl with a Pokemon of her own." He looked over at Nova again after saying those words just in time to see her face turn up into an intense expression of shock.

"Wait... Really!?" Nova froze like a Deerling in front of a truck's bright headlights at this great news. "So...just like that? You would give me the chance to be a real Pokemon Trainer?"

"Of course!" Kahuna Hala's loud chuckle resonated through Nova's ears as he clapped her on the back with impeccable strength, and she couldn't help but wonder if this guy here was who her cousin developed that habit from. "We'll make a fine Trainer out of her!" He smiled and nodded to Professor Kukui, who seemed to agree, then turned back to speak with Nova. "I'm glad to meet you, child. I am Hala, the Kahuna of Melemele Island. Welcome to Alola! Young Kukui had told me of your coming, and I'm glad we got the chance to meet today."

Nova suddenly felt herself feeling a little nervous, meeting someone as important as the island's Kahuna. "I-It's very nice to meet you, sir..." She timidly shook his had with a big grin plastered on her face in attempt to hide just how skittish she felt.

"The pleasure's all mine!" Kahuna Hala nearly took Nova's arm off from shaking her whole arm with his powerful handshake, and he turned to face the large platform in the center of town as he threw three Pokeballs onto it. "Come, my Pokemon! Let's have a look at you!"

Nova shut her eyes at the blinding white light that erupted from the three Pokeballs on the platform in front of her, and as she slowly opened them once more, she was met face-to-face with Alola's three starter Pokemon.

"First is the grass-type Pokemon, Rowlet!" Kahuna Hala pointed to the cute owl-like grass-type, who excitedly spun around and beamed at Nova as he let out a cheerful "Koo!" in response to being introduced. "Next is the fire-type Pokemon, Litten!" He pointed to the red and black kitten-like Pokemon, who growled a little "Mrowr!" as he jumped up and batted the air with his paw. "And last is the water-type Pokemon, Popplio!" Kahuna Hala directed Nova's attention to a very confused-looking, blue seal-Pokemon that just smiled at Nova and said "Bwark?" as she kicked her tail up in the air.

Nova looked between the three Pokemon carefully as everyone's eyes were on her, wondering which one she would choose. But the fact was, from the moment Nova's eyes met with that one Pokemon's, she instantly knew that starter was the one.

Everyone let out the breath they were holding as they watched Nova crouch down on her knees in front of Popplio, looking the tiny blue seal-Pokemon right in her doll-like eyes. "I'd like to choose Popplio, if it's okay with her."

"Bwark!" Popplio excitedly kicked her tail up once more and looked to Kahuna Hala for his blessing, who just turned to Nova and ushered her to get up on the platform with Popplio.

"Only when you have both chosen each other can you truly call one another partners." Kahuna Hala spoke loud and clearly to every townsperson who had began to crowd around the stage as soon as Nova stepped up onto it, and they all watched eagerly as the white-haired beauty stood across from Popplio. "So, Nova, let us see if little Popplio there also decides to choose you!"

Nova took in one long, deep breath as she intently stared across the stage at Popplio. "Okay, so... I'm no good at this, but I'm going to try. Popplio..." She met the water-type's eyes with a stare that was brimming with confidence. "I don't know the first thing about being a Pokemon Trainer, or what I want to do with my life, rather, but... I do know that I want to travel, and that I want to make something of myself." She knelt down in front of Popplio to get closer to the little Pokemon's small height, and she stared directly into her eyes with intense focus. "Would you be willing to stick by me and help me figure out the rest?"

Popplio just looked at Nova in complete silence for a moment as she seemed to have understood what Nova was asking of her, and she gazed quite sweetly at the white-haired girl as she let out a small "Bwark..." She then took one step forward, then two, and the entire crowd cheered as they watched Popplio jump into Nova's arms excitedly and give her the biggest smile. "Bwark bwark!"

Nova let out the breath she was holding as she held Popplio close to her heart, pressing her face against her new Pokemon's with a smile creeping up on her face. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had felt so happy. After all, Popplio would be the first friend she would ever make that she didn't have to worry about moving away from... She would always be hers, and no matter where Nova would go, Popplio would always be by her side.

And Nova was able to find comfort in that for the first time in her life.

"Ho! So little Popplio has accepted you as well, Nova!" Kahuna Hala clapped his hands together loudly as he congratulated the two on stage.

Professor Kukui couldn't help but grin at the stupidly-giddy look on Nova's face, which he hadn't seen in a long, long time. "Having accepted one another, you two will surely be friends for life, yeah!"

Lillie sat down next to Nova on the platform and patted Popplio's head sweetly. "Nice to meet you, Popplio!"

"Pew!" Nebby, who had miraculously escaped Lillie's bag at some point and was now standing right behind her, cried out happily at being free and inadvertently gained the blonde's attention.

Lillie spun around so fast that Nova was nearly whipped in the face by her long hair. "Oh! When did you get out again?" She bit down on her cheek in frustration as she glared at Nebby. "I know that Kahuna Hala and the professor will keep you safe from any harm, but you should still stay in the bag and out of sight. It's safer that way." Once Lillie was done nagging Nebby, she turned to face Nova and placed a hand on her shoulder as she wore a congratulatory grin. "I think you chose a wonderful Pokemon. Please take very good care of her."

"Of course I will." Nova coddled Popplio and unconsciously beamed at Lillie.

Professor Kukui walked up and gave Nova a high-five. "That's it, Nova! Now that you've got a Pokemon, you're a real Pokemon Trainer, yeah!" He reached inside his lab coat for something and pulled out a strange red, rectangular device. "And here's a lovely gift from me to help make it special, cousin."

Nova accepted the strange gift from her cousin with a curious look on her face. "What's this, Kukui?"

"It's a Pokedex!" Lillie answered for him, grinning excitedly. "You're really lucky to get one of those, Nova. They're really helpful tools to have, especially for beginning Trainers like yourself."

"That's right, yeah!" Professor Kukui gently patted Lillie on the shoulder, and Nova sighed sharply in frustration at the fact that he was gentle with Lillie, but was still a force of nature when patting _her_ on the back. "A Pokedex is a real high-tech kinda tool, yeah, that can automatically record facts about any Pokemon that you meet. Your new partner Popplio is already registered, oh yeah, so check it out!" He gave her a thumbs-up as he finished explaining, then jerked his thumb back behind him as he gestured towards the direction of Nova's house. "Now, why don't you go introduce your new friend to your mom, Nova?"

"Sure, I guess..." Nova set down Popplio and walked ahead of Professor Kukui and Lillie, beginning to head towards the town's front entrance when...

"Hey!"

Nova was instantly alarmed when a very tanned young boy, who couldn't be any older than eleven, suddenly ran up to her out of no where. He was dressed in yellow-orange floral-print shorts, a dark brown shirt, and orange sandals. An orange backpack was swung over his shoulders, and his dark brown hair was tied up in a way that resembled Kahuna Hala's grey hair.

"You and me! Let's have a Pokemon battle!" The young boy pointed to Nova with a look of determination on his face, and Nova felt like she was about to fall over from surprise.

"...wait, me?" Nova pointed to herself dubiously as she quickly looked around her to make sure he wasn't talking to someone else. "Pokemon battle? Right now?" She involuntarily rose her voice as she became more startled, which only caused the young boy to let out a hearty chuckle.

"Where's the fire, boy?" Kahuna Hala laughed good and hard as he caught up to Nova and the others at the entrance. "And what kind of a Pokemon battle would that be where you don't even give your name first, eh?"

The young boy grinned sheepishly and stretched his arms up before resting them behind his head. He lightly shut his eyes and beamed at Nova with an air of child-like innocence surrounding him. "Fair enough, then. I'm Hau, and my partner's Litten! Your Popplio looks really cool, too!"

"Thanks?" Nova quirked an eyebrow at the impossibly energetic boy named Hau, exchanging a wary glance with her Popplio.

"Yeah! So let's battle!" He jumped up and down excitedly as Nova stared straight ahead with a completely bored look on her face. "I couldn't wait for you to find your way to Iki Town, so I've been all over looking for you!"

Lillie exchanged a wary look with Nova right beside her. "Um... I don't really like to see Pokemon battles where Pokemon can get hurt...but I'll watch for you."

Professor Kukui was eager to see how this would turn out. "Oh yeah, your first battle already! Just have your Pokemon dish out some moves and see who wins. Woo!"

Kahuna Hala walked up and patted Nova on the shoulder as he spoke to her. "I appreciate you being so willing to take on my grandson here."

"G-grandson!?" Nova turned to Kahuna Hala in dumbfounded surprise. She couldn't have guessed that Hau was the Kahuna's grandson, but she could see the resemblance now that she was aware of their relation when she looked at Hau's grinning face.

Kahuna Hala let out a laugh as he clapped his hands together. "I expect a no-holds-barred battle from the both of you!"

Hau grinned happily in Nova's direction as he innocently prodded her. "You will battle me, right? I know you will! Right?"

"Uh..." Nova looked unsure of herself as she reached up and pressed her thumb to her lips. "I guess so?"

Hau jumped up and excitedly punched the air with his closed fist. "Alright, this is gonna be great!"

Kahuna Hala nodded his head and slammed his fist down into his open palm comprehensively. "Very well, then! Let the Pokemon battle begin!"

Nova had the most terrified expression ever plastered on her face as she nervously looked back and forth between Kahuna Hala and Hau. "Oh, um... So soon? O-oh...okay."

Hau tossed a Pokeball into the air and caught it in his hand with ease before releasing the Pokemon inside with a bright grin. "Alright, Litten! Let's show her how it's done!"

Nova winced at the sudden burst of white light that erupted from Hau's Pokeball, which released a little larger than your typical, average-sized Litten. The fire-starter looked to have tousled, disheveled fur from intensive training, compared to the polished appearance of Nova's Popplio.

"...wait, so did we start already?" Nova bit down on her lip nervously as she spun a strand of her hair around her finger. "U-um, you can go first..."

Hau stared at her strangely for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "Okay! Litten, get in there and scratch Popplio!" He pointed forwards in the direction of Popplio standing right by Nova's feet, giving the order. Litten's eyes gleamed with anticipation as he stretched out his front paws and flicked his thin tail high in the air, unsheathing his claws that began to dig into the dirt below him. He then sprung forwards with boundless energy, gunning straight for Popplio.

Nova stepped back a few feet in alarm as she widened her eyes, sweating as she watched Litten charge forwards. Her heart rate sped up incredibly fast as she wracked her brain in attempt to come up with her next move, coming to the horrible realization that she didn't have the first clue how to participate in a Pokemon battle. "Ack! Popplio, dodge that!" Her fingers twitched as she gazed at her Popplio helplessly.

Popplio's pink nose scrunched up, and she looked at her Trainer with her screwed-up facial expression at the confusing command. Litten advanced forwards so fast that the poor little water-type didn't even have a moment to react to the kitten-Pokemon's swift scratch attack. Popplio was sent back a few feet from the force of Litten's paw coming down on her nose with his sharp claws, and Popplio was visibly distressed by the pain that attack caused.

"Ouch!" Nova winced and covered her mouth with her hand, shooting her starter a look of guilt as she quickly began trying to throw together some sort of strategy. Should she take the offensive and use an attack of some kind, or maybe get on the defensive and try to avoid Litten's next few attacks and wait for him to tire out a little...? "Popplio, are you okay!?"  
Her eyes swam with overwhelming emotion as she pondered just how much pain Popplio was in, causing a small pang of guilt to reverberate through her heart as the very thought of that came to her mind.

"Bar..." Popplio whimpered as she delicately touched the part of her snout that had three distinctive lines clawed across it, which were a raw red color and throbbing in pain.

Hau balled up his hand into a fist and slammed it down on his open palm comprehensively. "Litten, come at Popplio with a fury scratch attack!"

Litten ran his rough tongue across his pearly fangs as he locked his eyes on Popplio, and a small purr rumbled from his chest.

Nova jolted at Hau's quickness to make a decision, and she lunged forward a little and stared at Popplio with a look of uncertainty as she spoke. "O-oh! Um, Popplio, hit Litten back, I guess?"

Popplio didn't look too confident after hearing her Trainer's wavering commands, but she decided to at least try and pound Litten with her flipper the second he got close. Litten's claws dug into the dusty road as he began to stalk around Popplio as if she were his prey, and the water-type warily followed his every move with her eyes. However, Litten was just too fast, and her pound attack missed as the cat-like Pokemon flew past her and delivered scratch attack after scratch attack all over Popplio's small body. The first strike was aimed at Popplio's chest, right below her ruffled collar. Then, the predator raked his claws across her back as she instinctively fought to get away from him. Litten continued the onslaught with swift twists of his body and the dancing of his claws across Popplio's flippers as she tried to defend herself feebly. Nova could smell the sickening metal tang of open wounds begin to fill the air as Popplio cried out in agony, and Nova yelped at her Pokemon's expense as she watched Litten's claws dig into Popplio.

"Yes!" Hau grinned as he pumped the air with his fist. "Okay Litten, you're doing great! Lower Popplio's attack with a whip of your tail, and then scratch her one more time!"

Litten waved his tail back and forth in front of Popplio, and Nova looked on in confusion as she watched a dazed look come over Popplio's face for a brief second. Before Nova could even think of a command to give, Litten turned around and walloped Popplio across the face with his paw with a loud smack. He let his claws do the work as he sent the small seal-Pokemon flying backwards and skidding across the patches of green grass until she landed heavily in a collapsed pile of defeat in front of her Trainer.

"What!? What did that just do?" Nova stared on in shock as she attempted to process what just happened, and she dove down to her knees to look at Popplio's tightly shut eyes and snout that was twisted in anguish. Popplio's flippers fell down to her sides as she lost consciousness right before Nova, causing her Trainer's brow to shoot up into her hairline in alarm as beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. "No, Popplio!"

"Woohoo! I won!" Hau jumped up and down excitedly, proud of his victory that was only won by his hard work of training Litten nonstop since the moment he had gotten him that morning. Litten arrogantly flicked his tail with a renewed sense of pride at his win.

Nova wore a look of indescribable grief on her face as she carefully scooped her Pokemon's limp body into her arms, staring down at her closed eyes that had scratches running over the skin around them. "Oh my gosh, Popplio! Are you okay? No..."

Hau wiped the sweat from his brow as he retired Litten to his Pokeball, brimming with happiness at his victory. "Hoo-ee! That gave me chicken skin!"

"...what?" That figure of speech went right over Nova's head as she looked up from her Popplio's tired body in her arms, and she felt absolutely crushed at her horrible defeat as she looked back down at her Pokemon's sleeping face once more.

Popplio...was hurt. Battered and bruised to the point of where the water-type could no longer even bring herself to stand. She was tortured on the battlefield as her Trainer had only stood and looked onward in horror, and it was all Nova's fault that this had happened to Popplio.

It was all her fault...

Hau seemed to not pick up on Nova's devastation as he pointed to her with a smile. "It was Nova, right? Your Popplio was awesome!"

"Y-yeah... Thanks." Nova cradled Popplio close to her chest, holding her breath so she wouldn't show how she really felt to everyone around her.

Lillie walked up to Nova with a similar expression and sprayed some medicine on Popplio to heal her wounds, and after giving her what looked to be a revive, Popplio woke up and felt much better. Sure, she was a exhausted from that battle and could use some rest, but all of her scrapes and bruises were beginning to heal rather quickly as a result of the medicine Lillie had graciously applied to them. Popplio turned her head around in Nova's arms so she could look at her new Trainer and gave her a smile that said she loved Nova unconditionally, no matter whether they lost or not, which only made Nova's heart sink even more.

Popplio worked so hard for her, and Nova had let her down...

...so she would just have to work that much harder now to keep that from happening again. Both for Popplio's sake, and her own.

Hau jumped up and down excitedly once more, seemingly burning none of his boundless energy. "Now that settles it! I'm going all out tomorrow!"

Nova was about to ask what Hau had meant by that when a tiny glimmer of something seemed to have escaped her bag, and she looked down at what just shined in confusion.

"Hm?" Kahuna Hala seemed to notice it too, and he furrowed his brow as he looked at her. "Nova... Would you be so kind as to give me a look at that sparkling stone you have there?"

"Oh... You mean this thing?" Nova pulled out the stone she obtained from Lillie earlier, handing it over to the Kahuna. "Sure."

Kahuna Hala was stunned into silence the second that stone hit his palm, and he looked back and forth between both it and Nova several times in disbelief. "Could it be!?"

Hau seemed to recognize the stone too, and he pulled on his grandfather's sleeve as he leaned over to get a closer look at the sparkling stone Kahuna Hala was holding. "Tutu, isn't that..."

Kahuna Hala's carefree demeanor was gone in an instant as he met Nova with a serious gaze. "You were rescued by Tapu Koko at the bridge...isn't that what I heard, Nova?"

"Yeah, it rescued me..." Nova blinked her eyes in surprise, not sure where this conversation was going. "That's when I got that stone." She pointed to the stone she had just handed him as she returned Popplio to her Pokeball to let her rest.

Kahuna Hala turned the small stone over in his hand as he looked it over curiously. "So it even deigned to give you a stone..." He smiled a little to himself as he looked up and met Nova's eyes. "Perhaps you are here in Alola, Nova, because this is where you are meant to be."

Nova bit down on her lip hard in attempt to suppress her urge to laugh, letting a tiny scoff escape her lips. "Meant to be...? I don't know about _that."_

"Allow me to borrow this stone for now." Kahuna Hala held the sparkling stone up by his face to draw Nova's attention to it, and he grinned brightly and chuckled. "Fret not! I'll return it to you tomorrow evening."

Nova just shrugged her shoulders, not really caring either way. "Sure, go ahead. I don't mind."

Kahuna Hala nodded his head as if to agree with himself as he placed the small stone in his pocket. "It would seem that you have the makings of a fine Trainer. You must do us the honor of joining us in our festival tomorrow!"

Nova looked a little confused at the mention of a festival, but Professor Kukui stepped in and spoke before she got the chance to voice her questions.

"First, I'll make sure you get back home safe today, Nova." Professor Kukui stepped up and rested his hand on Nova's shoulder as he spoke to her, causing the white-haired beauty to look up at him. "Lillie, you should come with us too, yeah." He grinned at the blonde next to Nova, ushering her to tag along. "Wouldn't want to go losing you twice in one day. You or that precious Pokemon of yours!"

Lillie just let out an exhausted sigh just _thinking_ about what grief Nebby had caused her to experience today, and she looked down at her bag as she began to voice her thoughts aloud. "Yes... I will keep an eye on..."

Lillie's whole face erupted into an intensely angry look when she spotted Nebby just bouncing up and down on the ground behind her without a care in the world, not having noticed it escaping her bag once again in the first place.

"Pew!" Nebby let out a startled cry when it saw the look on Lillie's face, and it turned to hop further away from her and closer to Nova.

"Oh, you!" Lillie angrily gritted her teeth as she glared in Nebby's direction. "Would you not try to escape the very moment that you were told not to wander off!"

The four of them all laughed together at poor Lillie's expense, and Nebby even joined in on the chuckling at the look on Lillie's face as the atmosphere had been lightened by the joy they all shared together.

* * *

Alola's bright sun began to set in the sky as Nova stepped back into her house, and she was immediately greeted by her mother Celine, who had just been in the midst of unpacking a few boxes in the kitchen.

"Welcome back, Nova!" Celine dropped what she was doing and excitedly approached her daughter at the door. "So, what kind of Pokemon did you get? Don't keep me waiting!"

"Oh, sorry." Nova spaced a little on the fact that her mother was eager to meet her new starter, and she clumsily fished around in her bag for Popplio's Pokeball. "Mom, meet Popplio."

Popplio sprung out of her Pokeball in a bright flash of white light, and she landed right at Nova's feet. "Bar?" She looked up at Celine with her adorable doe eyes, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

Celine felt as if she had been shot through the heart with an arrow as she practically had hearts for eyes. "Oh! I think I'm falling in love!"

Nova let out a small chuckle under her breath as she looked down at Popplio. "Eheh... She is pretty cute, huh?"

"Definitely!" Celine smiled as bright as the sun as she beamed at her daughter. "So, why did you choose this sweetheart?"

Nova paused as her eyes met Popplio's, and she felt herself wandering around in an endless Möbius strip inside her mind as she attempted to form an answer, finding no explanation to give whatsoever. "I'm not sure... I just kinda looked into her eyes and... _felt_ something." She reached behind her head and awkwardly grabbed the back of her neck, looking down at Popplio. "I don't know how to really explain it."

She had never felt so connected to something, or _someone_ , rather, in a long time. Meeting Popplio today and hitting it off so well was just... _strange_ , for Nova.

But it wouldn't be very long until she connected with another kindred soul.

* * *

 **Woooooooowwwww okay, that was really long. Few things:**

 **1) Nova chose Popplio. I bet you guys were expecting me to have her choose Litten, given my personal preference for fire-types, huh? XD**  
 **2) No Altair in this chapter, I know. It's the NEXT chapter you guys have to look forward to and freak out over! Honestly, I'm crying laughing just THINKING about it XD XD XD**  
 **3) Nova LOST her battle against Hau and has no clue how to be a Pokemon Trainer, I know. I told you guys that I'm taking a different approach this time around with this book, and this is just the start of it!**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Now, Popplio! Send it flying with a water gun!"

Popplio looked back at her Trainer and drew in a sharp breath, shooting a powerful torrent of water right at the wild Yungoos, who failed to dodge the attack and took the full force of it head on. Yungoos let out a startled cry as he was sent skidding across the patches of grass outside of Nova's house, and he scampered away in fear at his loss.

"Yes!" Nova balled her hand into a fist as she grinned brightly, bringing her fist down in victory. "Great job, Popplio!"

"Bwark!" Popplio did a little flip in the air as she cheered at Nova's praise, thrilled that she won her battle yet again.

Nova's crushing loss to Hau yesterday was just the slap in the face she needed. She didn't have a _clue_ how to be a Pokemon Trainer, _or_ how to battle, rather, and walking around with her head held high and acting like she knew everything just wasn't going to get her anywhere. She went home that night and took care of Popplio with a new resolve: the next day, they would train together tirelessly until they improved.

And train they did.

Nova had woken up early this morning and went straight to Professor Kukui's lab for some tips from the expert himself. She knew that of all people, Professor Kukui, the move-master, would know a thing or two about battling, and that he did. Nova was a little shocked by how much advice he actually had to give her, but what was the most helpful was the function in her Pokedex that could scan a Pokemon and tell her what moves it knew. Apparently, Popplio's two best attacks she had under her belt already were pound and water gun, and once Nova knew what she had to work with, battling wasn't so hard any more. Granted, she was still no expert, but Nova felt as if she had improved tremendously compared to how she battled yesterday. She had to be prepared for her battle today, and this time, she wouldn't lose.

The duo of Popplio and Nova had been training and practicing on the wild Pokemon outside of Nova's house all morning and afternoon, and now that the sun was beginning to go down, Nova heavily plopped down in a patch of grass that looked over the sparkling water of the rippling ocean beneath the small cliff she was on. Both her and Popplio had been training tirelessly all day, and they were really starting to feel it now.

"Phew..." Nova let out the breath she was holding and inhaled slowly, closing her eyes as she let the light breeze run through her hair. "You did good work today, Popplio. I'm proud of you." She smiled and high-flippered Popplio, who let out a cheery "bwark!" in response to Nova's praise.

Nova stared blankly out at the glittering ocean before her, unconsciously smiling at the scenic view as she delved deep within her thoughts. Her loss yesterday was horrible, and Nova felt completely dejected yesterday night while she tended to Popplio and helped her recover from her injuries. She promised herself that this time would be better, and she wouldn't let down Popplio again. A partnership between a Trainer and Pokemon was a two way street; the Pokemon weren't the only ones who had to work hard.

"Nova!"

Nova looked up at the sound of her name being called, and Popplio, who was sitting in her lap, sat straight up too and followed her Trainer's line of sight until her little blue eyes rested on Professor Kukui.

"Kukui!" Nova reached up and waved to her cousin with her full arm, grinning brightly in his direction. "Is it time already?"

"Yeah! Ready to go?" Professor Kukui began walking towards her as he inquisitively rose an eyebrow.

"Almost." Nova quickly got up and patted Popplio on her head before returning her to her Pokeball, then began to meet Professor Kukui halfway as she walked towards him. "Once I get changed, we can go."

Professor Kukui changed directions when Nova caught up to him, and they both began walking back towards her house together as he spoke. "Guess you don't want to go to the festival in sweatpants and a tank, yeah?"

Nova's face soured as she defensively crossed her arms. "Well I've been training all day, you know!"

Professor Kukui let out a loud "HAH!" as he clapped Nova on the back with his usual force, sending her forwards a little from the shock of the blow. "Guess you're right about that, yeah!"

"Sigh..." Nova relaxed her shoulders as she walked up the front steps to her house, and she and Professor Kukui strode in together.

"Hey, Aunt Celine!" Professor Kukui gave Celine a friendly wave as he spotted her and Meowth opening some moving boxes in the living room, and he proceeded to strike up a conversation with her as Nova made her escape to her bedroom to get changed.

Nova let out the breath she was holding as she closed her bedroom door behind her and rested her back flat against it, closing her eyes lightly. It was finally time for the festival. Time for her to redeem herself.

But dressing for the part was only half of it.

Nova crossed her floor and stopped in front of her closet, debating on what to wear to this festival as she dragged her fingers across each hanger. She quickly began plucking various articles of clothing from her closet and grabbed a matching pair of shoes, and after she threw it all on and ran a brush through her curly hair, she stopped in front of her mirror by the door on her way out to look at herself.

A short, red, pleated skirt with a white stripe running along the bottom hem of it, a white, sleeveless turtleneck, red stiletto pumps, and a matching red handbag. Nova clipped a little red Alolan flower clip into her white hair on the left side of her face. She threw on some basic makeup at her vanity mirror before heading out, not wanting to wear anything too heavy or fancy, so she stuck to some basic black eyeliner and a dull pink lipstick.

"Have fun at the festival, sweetie!" Celine waved to Nova as she walked through the living room and began to head towards the front door with Professor Kukui, who held the door open for her with a big grin on his face. "I'm sure you'll have a good time with Popplio! Meowth and I will be sure to unpack every last box here-you'll see!"

Meowth glanced back and forth in panic between Celine's eager face and Nova's back as she walked out the door. "Mreee!?"

* * *

Nova wasn't quite sure what she was expecting the festival to be like, but it surely wasn't _this_.

Iki Town was illuminated by endless rows of lit torches as the sun began to set on the small town filled with festive drum music, and the whole town seemed to be out and about in the lively town square. The townspeople were chatting and dancing everywhere in the town's square, and Nova's eyes were wandering around the whole festival area filled with amazing decorations.

Kahuna Hala spotted Professor Kukui and Nova just now walking in, and he chortled as he stood in front of the platform and addressed the whole plaza. "The Alola region is made up of four islands, and each island has its own guardian Pokemon. Our festival today is held to express our thanks to these great Pokemon guardian deities for always remaining by our sides." He clapped his hands together comprehensively, and he laughed a little as he gave a little shoulder shrug. "Well, we may call it a festival, but it's just this little thing you see here. There may not be many of us, but at least every last one of us here goes all out."

Nova spotted Hau frantically waving to her up ahead, and she shook her head in annoyance as she walked forward to meet up with both him and his Litten.

"Ho! Howzit, Nova?" Hau grinned infectiously bright, waving to Nova excitedly as she stopped in front of him. "Man, I thought you'd never make it! Me and Litten've been waiting for ages!"

Litten let out an excited little "grrr!" as he flicked his tail down by Hau's feet.

Hau got a good look at the confused expression on Nova's face as she looked around the festival, wondering what was going on. "Hold on... Didn't anyone explain to you about tonight!?"

"Uh... No?" Nova hesitantly shrugged her shoulders as she stared at Hau. She just thought she would have a rematch against Hau today; she didn't quite imagine that there would be a legitimate, all-out festival going on tonight.

Professor Kukui walked up behind Nova, now having Lillie by his side as he eagerly clapped his hands together. "Oh yeah, right on time!"

Lillie looked just as confused as Nova as she joined the white-haired beauty at her side. "But to what exactly?"

Lillie's bag suddenly shook, and an excited little "Pew!" was heard from it.

Professor Kukui punched the air as he felt himself starting to get pumped for all the exhilarating festivities. "A full-powered festival for Pokemon battling! We battle in the name of Tapu Koko, pitting our best moves against one another in friendly competition to please our guardian. Woo!"

"Wait, that's what all of this is for!?" Nova nervously looked around her at all of the people who would be watching her battle today, and she couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

Lillie slowly nodded her head as she began to understand, and she looked over at Nova and Hau. "So you two will be taking part in the battle?" She nervously frowned a little, rocking back and forth on her heels. "I don't like seeing Pokemon fight one another, since they so often end up getting hurt... But it seems like this is an important event, so I'll be sure to watch you both."

Kahuna Hala walked up to join Nova and the other three where they stood in the town's square. "Your Pokemon have fought for you, so show them the same care in return, Nova. Are you ready for this Pokemon battle?"

Nova felt like her knees were about to buckle as she eyed the stage she was about to take, and she swallowed her nerves as she began to march towards her designated side of the stage. "As ready as I'll ever be..."

Kahuna Hala rose his voice to let it ring out across the whole plaza as he threw his arms up in the air. "Then let's begin!" Everyone in the town's square began to gather around the platform, where Kahuna Hala stood on the ground in front of it. "For all life on our islands... And for those who undertake the island challenge with joy in their hearts... We pray for your protection, for them and all Melemele." Kahuna Hala shut his eyes lightly as he spoke from the heart, and everyone around him listened to what he had to say eagerly as they hung on his every word. "May this Pokemon battle be an offering to our island's guardian deity...Tapu Koko!" He turned to his left, raising his open hand to point at Hau, who was standing there waiting for his cue to take the stage. "Before you stands Hau: grandson to the Kahuna."

Hau ascended the steps with Litten's Pokeball in hand, and he grinned excitedly as he waited in anticipation for the battle to start.

Kahuna Hala looked to his right and pointed to Nova, cueing her to take the stage. "Before him stands Nova, one who has met with Tapu Koko."

Nova stepped up to the stage and tightly gripped Popplio's Pokeball within her frail fingers, nervously glancing at all of the eyes that were now on her.

But there was one pair of eyes hidden far in the back of the crowd that were watching her more carefully than the others, which went completely unseen by Nova.

The townspeople cried out in shock and awe at Kahuna Hala's revelation about Nova, pleasantly surprised to hear that this girl, who was new to the region, had met with Tapu Koko herself.

"What!?"

"What a curious little thing Tapu Koko is!"

"Hah, that's just typical of it!"

Hau grinned eagerly as he met Nova's eyes from across the stage. "As long as we both have a good time, then I think we can call it a great battle, eh?"

"I would say so." Nova smirked as she felt her confidence building, and she placed one hand on her hip as she repeatedly tossed Popplio's Pokeball into the air and caught it over and over again. She drew in slow, deep breaths to calm her nerves, already starting to feel excited for this rematch.

Kahuna Hala turned to face the nineteen-year-old and eleven-year-old, throwing his hands up into the air and then bringing them down to signal the beginning of the battle. "Nova! Hau! Bring forth the power of your Pokemon!"

Nova's eyes narrowed as she locked her gaze on Hau facing opposite of her, and her smirk was brimming with confidence as she sent out her only Pokemon. "Okay, Popplio. We've got this!"

Hau grinned excitedly and rubbed his hands together in anticipation as the bright light from Popplio's Pokeball flashed before his eyes. "Oh boy, this will be fun! Let's go, Litten!" He threw forwards the red and white ball containing his fire starter, releasing the little cat-like Pokemon who was eager to face off against Popplio for this rematch. Anticipation gleamed in his yellow eyes as they caught the light of the sun shining up above as it slowly continued to set over Iki Town.

Nova rose her arm and pointed at Litten from where she stood on her side of the platform, glaring ahead with a look of determination. "Popplio, don't give Litten a chance this time! Hit him with your water gun!" Popplio sharply exhaled as she leaned forwards on her little blue flippers. She matched Nova's expression as she glared at Litten across from her, despite the nervous beads of sweat rolling down her forehead. Popplio was a little tense about having to face off against Hau and Litten again, but this time she was better prepared, both her and her Trainer.

"Litten, dodge that and land a fury swipe attack on Popplio!" Hau excitedly gave the order, ready to experience another fun battle with Nova. Litten fiercely roared a "mrowr!" and flicked his tail around. He menacingly bore his fangs at Popplio from across the stage, eager to crush the helpless little seal-Pokemon again. Emerging victorious from this battle was not going to be a problem.

Litten's sharp claws tore at the teak, wooden platform as he peeled out across it, gunning straight for Popplio. Popplio stood her ground and drew in a deep breath, charging as much power as she could before Litten reached her. Litten leapt up into the air and unsheathed his claws as he reached out for Popplio. The little seal-Pokemon tilted her head up and shot a powerful beam of water directly in Litten's face, causing the little fire-cat to go crashing backwards six feet. Litten lied collapsed in a little puddle of water in shock, and he slowly stood back up and shook out as much of the water from his matted fur as he could. The feline fell into instinctual tendencies as he feverishly began to lick at his fur, lapping up every droplet he could. Litten angrily hissed at Popplio for getting him soaking wet, and a chill ran down his spine, both from the cold shower and his wounded pride. Popplio grinned victoriously that she was able to land a hit on Litten and literally knock him off his feet, and she tilted her little pink nose upwards as a confident smirk came across her face.

Nova pumped the air with her fist and grinned as Hau winced at the damage his Pokemon just took. So far, this time around was already looking much better for Nova and Popplio. "Okay Popplio, pound Litten to send him away from you, then shoot another water gun at him!"

Hau chuckled as he stared at Nova in amazement, happy to see that she had improved so much from just yesterday alone. "Litten, retaliate with an ember attack and scratch Popplio!"

Hau placed his hands on his waist as Litten shook out the water from his damp fur that now stuck together in clumps. Litten's yellow eyes narrowed at Popplio as he focused solely on getting his revenge, unsheathing his claws. He began to charge fire power within his stomach as he stood on his hind legs. As his stomach began to glow with an eerie amber-color, he fell back down onto all four of his paws and lunged forward. Popplio stood strong and held her ground as she awaited her Trainer's orders, not letting her anxiety get the best of her as her breathing grew more staggered and uneven.

"Popplio, dodge that!" Nova cried out as she watched Litten race toward Popplio even faster than before, and Popplio's eyes snapped wide open as she quickly jumped out of the way of the chunk of fiery embers Litten had just shot at her. The embers went flying off of the stage, causing the crowd to yelp and jump back away from where it landed and sizzled on the grass before immediately going out. "Yes!" Nova's whole face lit up in excitement at her Pokemon's success, and she clapped her hands together. "Okay girl, finish him with one final water gun!"

Popplio spun around just as Litten lunged to scratch her, and she smacked him across the face with the back of her tail to shove him away from her. Litten painfully skidded backwards across the platform a few feet and stood there dazed for a moment as he tried to make himself stop seeing double. Popplio inhaled sharply before letting out the biggest torrent of water she could possibly muster, shooting Litten with a pulsing jet of icy-cold water that hit the feline dead-on in the face. Litten was sent flying backwards several feet as the icy-cold water agonizingly chilled the fiery blood running through his veins, and he spun around dizzily for a moment in front of Hau before he exhaustedly collapsed into a little fatigued puddle.

Nova's whole face slowly turned up into the biggest grin as she realized Popplio had defeated Litten, and she cheered happily as she looked at her started. "Yes! Great job, Popplio!"

Popplio's whole face lit up at her Trainer's praise, and she did a little flip as she happily let out a "bwark bwark!" Hearing Nova praise her like that made her inexplicably happy, and Popplio couldn't wipe the grin off her face no matter what she did.

It really felt good to win for once.

"Nice one, Nova!" Hau smiled and gave his opponent a thumbs up as he returned Litten to his Pokeball to rest. As he clipped Litten's Pokeball back to his belt, Hau reached out and grabbed a different Pokeball to send out this time. "Okay, Pichu, time to shine!" He threw forwards the second Pokeball, releasing a little baby electric mouse onto the platform with kite-shaped ears, who smiled sweetly at both Nova and Popplio as he looked around him. He brought his tiny, nimble paws up to his baby-pink cheeks that generated mild sparks of electricity.

"Wait, what?" Nova's eyes snapped wide open in shock at the sight of the electric-type, instantly dreading how weak Popplio's attacks against him would be as a large lump formed in her throat.

"I've still got one more Pokemon up my sleeve!" Hau cocked his head to the side as he wore a face-splitting grin that shined brighter than the sun. "Pichu, confuse Popplio with a sweet kiss, and then finish her with a thundershock!" Pichu looked back at Hau as he gave the order, and he nodded his head in understanding. His cute little yellow cheeks sparked with static electricity as he began to prepare himself to release energy, and Popplio stared onward in horror as she began to tremble from the end of her rubbery tail all the way up to her little pink nose.

Popplio nervously looked back at her Trainer for some sort of strategy, already feeling a little worn out from both her battle against Litten and the extensive training they had been doing together since early that morning. Her fatigue from working so hard all day was catching up to her, and Nova knew it too.

Nova worriedly looked at her starter, and she cupped her hands around her mouth to magnify her volume as she cried out. "Popplio, dodge that!"

Pichu hopped across the platform and planted a sweet kiss on Popplio's forehead before she could even react, causing the little seal-Pokemon to lose focus and dizzily rock back and forth on her little blue flippers. Popplio's mind raced uncontrollably as she saw double wherever she looked, and the voices of everyone around her sounded very slow and distorted as she struggled to make out what they were saying. As Popplio spun around in confusion, Pichu cried out an adorable, high-pitch "chuuuu!" as a strong bought of electricity erupted from his small body and electrified Popplio where she stood. The volts of electricity excruciatingly rippled through the veins of Popplio's wet, rubbery body, and as she cried out in agony as she was being electrocuted, she crashed face-first into the wooden platform in a heap of unconsciousness, and her eyes rolled up into the back of her head as she fainted.

Nova's face visibly fell as she looked at her fallen starter with a crestfallen expression, feeling her perfect posture melt as a result of an intense feeling of dread that began to slowly creep up on her. "No... Not again..."

The townspeople gasped with Pichu's final blow to Popplio, in awe at the amazing victory of the Kahuna's grandson. It was a close battle, but Hau had won in the end. Nova shut her eyes in disappointment and silently returned Popplio to her Pokeball as the townspeople began to excitedly chatter among themselves.

"Hoo-ee! Another great battle this year."

"I bet Tapu Koko liked it too."

Hau chuckled lightheartedly as he reached up to wipe the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. "Phew... That was awesome, Nova! That was a really great battle." He grinned brightly and gave her a thumbs up. "I had a blast fighting you!"

The white-haired beauty flashed a brief, wounded smile, and she turned a little to the side to hide her disappointed face from the crowd. She clutched Popplio's Pokeball in her hand and looked down at it as she ran her thumb over its smooth surface, and she weakly smiled at it. "What's important is that you tried. Thank you for everything you did today, Popplio..."

Kahuna Hala seemed to be oblivious to Nova's disappointment with herself as he chuckled heartily and clapped his hands together. "It was a good battle. With this, even Tapu Koko..."

A sharp, clairvoyant "Ko-ko-kooo!" rang out across the town from up above as the Pokemon in question suddenly flew over Iki Town and disappeared within a second, causing everyone to laugh and cheer in response.

"Ho! You heard it yourself!" Kahuna Hala shook his head as he laughed, pleased that Tapu Koko enjoyed the battle as well. "Tapu Koko's song of approval. Oh, I nearly forgot!" His eyes suddenly widened as he remembered something, and he stepped up onto the stage and handed Nova a small object. "I think it is time you take this, Nova."

"What is this?" Nova blinked her eyes in shock as a small, grey bracelet was placed in the palm of her hand, and she couldn't help but notice that it strongly resembled the sparkling stone Tapu Koko had given to her the day before.

Kahuna Hala pointed to the stone bracelet in Nova's palm as he spoke. "Your Z-Ring, a mysterious armband that can draw out the power that lies deep within Pokemon... It can bring forth their Z-Power!" He grinned brightly as he continued, confirming Nova's suspicions about its relation to the sparkling stone. "We Kahunas can make them by refining stones like the sparkling stone that you received from Tapu Koko. Although, until you collect more Z-Crystals during your island challenge, you will not be able to draw out the Z-Power of your Pokemon." He paused briefly at the end of his explanation, smiling thoughtfully as he looked upon Nova's impressive stature. "And yet you have already received that sparkling stone... It seems Tapu Koko took quite a liking to you. Or perhaps it has a mission for you..."

Professor Kukui butted in the second Nova screwed up her face in confusion at Kahuna Hala's words. "In other words, it's time for you to get out there and start your island challenge!" He grinned and shrugged his shoulders as he looked at his cousin. "If you visit every island, maybe you'll figure out what that mission is."

"The island challenge...?" Nova's eyes slowly widened at the mention of this unfamiliar term, and she looked to Professor Kukui for answers.

"Four islands!" Professor Kukui eagerly threw his hand forwards and stuck up four fingers as he grinned excitedly. "You'll travel to each of the four islands here in the Alola region. The island challenge is about aiming to be the strongest Trainer...the island champion. Woo!"

Hau jumped up and down in anticipation, just thinking about it. "Sounds great, right?" He stopped and looked at Nova with his never-fading, brilliant smile. "I can't wait to have a real adventure!"

Professor Kukui figured now was as good of a time as any to tell Nova the catch to her island challenge, and he hesitantly looked into her sunset-colored eyes as the sun above them continued to fall at a slow rate. "Aaaaand actually, about your challenge, Nova..."

Nova instantly was on alert when she heard his tone of voice, and she slightly stuck her arms out for balance and took a step backwards as she shot her cousin a wary look. "...what did you do?"

Professor Kukui quickly found a sheepish grin making its way onto his face as he spoke. "Well, since you're new to Alola and could use...well, basically, a crash course on being a Pokemon Trainer, I asked an old friend of mine to tag along with you for Melemele Island." He looked at her apologetically as he tried to reassure her that his intentions behind his gesture were pure. "You know, just to help you out until you get used to it!"

"Kukui..." Nova's tone dropped to a low growl as she glared at him, and she found herself beginning to ball her hands into tight fists.

A nervous bead of sweat rolled down Professor Kukui's forehead as he defensively waved his arms back and forth in front of him in a protective manner. "It's only temporary, cousin! And besides, I think you'll get along with him just fine!"

"Him?" Nova's eyebrows shot up into her hairline at that pronoun slip, and she felt herself only growing more angry as she narrowed her eyes menacingly at her cousin. She heard the sound of footsteps from behind begin to approach her, and a horrible suspicion of who just walked up and stopped a few feet behind her crept into the back of Nova's mind. "Oh no, don't tell me..."

"Well, can't say I saw _this_ coming."

Nova's whole world seemed to shatter into a million pieces as she recognized that self-righteous, arrogant tone of voice, and she stiffened her whole body as she slowly turned around with her clenched fists, only to meet his deep purple, starry, midnight sky for eyes once again.

Nova internally kicked herself as her suspicions were confirmed, and she sarcastically rolled her eyes as she let out a bitter, sharp exhale, looking at the very same man she had hit in the face with a door the day before. "Oh god... Whatever horrible thing I did in my past life to deserve such a punishment, truly, I'm sorry for it."

Altair Knight let out a short scoff at the white-haired girl who he had shared a chance encounter with yesterday, not entirely surprised to see that she had such a bad attitude going for her. "Nice to see you again too. You know, since I can actually _see_ you this time, now that I don't have a door in my face."

Nova fumed at that snide remark as she glared sharply at Altair, throwing her fists down angrily as her voice rose an octave or two. "That was an accident and you know it!"

Professor Kukui smiled despite his confusion, and he held up a finger and pointed in their direction as he looked back and forth between the two. "Oh, so you two have met already?"

"Yes!" Altair flashed a charming grin as he confidently crossed his arms over his chest.

"NO!" Nova whirled around to face Professor Kukui and shouted that in sync with Altair's response, and she instinctively threw her arms down to her sides in a huff.

Professor Kukui and Lillie both exchanged a wary glance and a sweatdrop at Nova and Altair's contradicting answers. "Erm..."

Altair took a few steps forward and smirked as he slowly circled around Nova, taking the time to study her every move. He could actually stop and get a good look at the girl he had heard so much about from the professor now that he wasn't in a rush to get home. "So... _You're_ Nova, hmm?"

Nova rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw as she tightly crossed her arms over her chest, straightening her posture and tilting her chin up and away from him. "Yeah, not like it's any of your business..."

Altair laughed incredulously as he looked at her with widened eyes. "Not any of my business?" He drew his head back a little from the shock of just how hostile she was, and he instantly began smirking with complete confidence once more as he began to figure her out piece by piece. "Well, preferably I'd like to know the name of the girl I'll be traveling with for the next week or two and taking on as my student."

Nova shut her eyes and scoffed as she waved her hands back and forth in protest. "Hold on, no one is taking _anybody_ on as their student!" Her bright orange eyes snapped wide open and fixated themselves on Altair's purple ones, and she instantly found herself sneering at him. "I don't need your help!"

"Is that so?" Altair smiled wryly as he stopped pacing and stood in front of her, matching her stiff posture and crossing his arms exactly like how she had hers folded over her chest. "Because based on the battle I just watched, I'd say it couldn't hurt for you to listen to a few pointers from a pro." He laughed a little at Nova's eye-roll for a response, and he leaned in a little to endearingly smile at her. "And it's Altair, by the way."

"What is?" Nova rolled her eyes again, huffing as she looked away from him and off to the side.

"My name." Altair rose an eyebrow as he smirked at her, answering her question. "It's Altair Knight, thanks for asking. It's a pleasure to meet you, Nova." He held out his hand for her to shake, but he wasn't all that surprised to get the reaction from her that he did.

Nova sharply turned to her side and tilted her head up and away from him with her eyes shut in defiance. "Go jump off a cliff."

"Ouch..." Altair laughed a little self-depreciatingly as he reached up and ran a hand through his silky black hair. "Kind of a harsh thing to say to someone you just met, don't you think?"

Hau awkwardly stared on at the scene that was unfolding in front of him, quietly whispering to Lillie beside him and nudging her with his elbow. "...how long do you think this is gonna go on for?"

Lillie felt herself sweatdropping as she slowly shook her head from side to side. "I have no idea."

"Why don't you just give me a chance?" Altair laughed in amazement at Nova's persistence to avoid him by running to the other side of the platform, and the two were now playing a game of cat and mouse as they stood on opposite sides of the stage from each other. "You might find yourself actually wanting to get to know me!"

"As if!" Nova scoffed as she gave that snarky retort, trying to run away from Altair. "Can you just leave me alone!?"

Every time she took a step to the left, he matched her steps. If she tried to go right, he followed her movements. The two were just keeping an even amount of space between each other as they paced around the platform in the middle of town, arguing with each other in front of everyone in the town square, who were all watching this amusing argument with face-splitting grins while they laughed quietly to themselves.

"Come on, Nova..." Altair threw his hands up in bewilderment at her stubbornness, continuing to walk around the platform in circles in attempt to catch up to her.

"Don't talk to me like we're friends!" Nova snapped at him, furrowing her brow as she rested her hands on her hips, continuing to avoid him. "You don't even know me!"

"Well, maybe I'd like to get the chance to!" Altair threw his arms open as he stared at her unbelievably, grinning despite himself. He always did like a challenge, and she was _definitely_ it.

Nova sassily shook her head at him as an angry expression encompassed her whole face. "Then that makes one of us!"

Altair scoffed and rolled his eyes, amazed by her ability to be so unwilling to accept someone's help. "Come on... Is this about the door thing?" He shot her a cautious look, figuring that _had_ to be the reason why she detested him so much.

"NO!" Nova snapped and threw her arms down to her sides in embarrassment. "Of course not!"

Altair drew in a deep breath as he slowly nodded his head in understanding. "...so it _is_ about the door thing."

"Don't be ridiculous." Nova rolled her eyes, bitterly looking off to the side and away from him. "What even makes _you_ qualified to be my mentor, anyways!?

...

The second that question left Nova's pink lips, the entire town appeared to be holding their breath in attempt to suppress their laughter. Everyone was disturbingly quiet for a few seconds, until one by one, everyone started to break their facade.

Hau covered his mouth in attempt to stifle his laughter further, trying really hard not to lose it and anger Nova any further. "Pfft..."

Lillie bit her lip slightly in attempt to hide the amused look on her face as she reached up to brush her blonde bangs from her brilliant green eyes. "Um, Nova..."

"What!?" Nova whirled around and glared at them all, wondering what was so funny.

Kahuna Hala and Professor Kukui just completely lost it, leaning on each other for support as they laughed so loud that their chuckles rang out through the whole town, who all began laughing along with them as they looked at the confused Nova standing in the middle of it all.

"What?" Nova threw her hands up into the air in frustration, sick and tired of being the last one to know everything. "What are you guys not telling me!?" She looked at all of their laughing faces before she stopped on Altair's neutral expression, and she rose an eyebrow and crossed her arms in annoyance as she looked to him for some sort of explanation.

Altair seemed to be holding something back as he had a modest, bashful expression on his face, running his hand through his hair. "Well, you see..."

Professor Kukui cut in with a knowing smirk, figuring that Altair wouldn't tell her himself, being as modest as he was. "Altair here is the current island challenge champion of Alola."

Nova felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment as this fact hit her like a freight train, and she immediately reached up and pulled at her hair as she shouted, "WHAT!?"

Altair chuckled a little as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his black denim jeans, tearing his eyes away from the dirt floor and looking up to flash Nova an endearing grin. "So, Nova, am I 'qualified' enough for you?"

Nova inwardly kicked herself and bit her tongue as she balled her hands into fists so tight that her nails began to dig into her skin. "Look, would you just leave me alone!?" She sighed sharply, exhausted from all of this bickering. "I don't need or want your help, Altair."

"Sorry, no can do." Altair immediately shook his head no, refusing her request. "The professor asked me for a favor, and I fully intend to deliver." He paused when he finally picked up on the last part of what she had said, and he crossed his arms over his chest as he shot her an all-knowing grin. "Looks like I'm finally growing on you, huh?"

Nova knitted her brow as she wrinkled up her nose in confusion. "What?"

Altair smirked wryly and he leaned in closer to her face for effect. "You said my name."

Nova's face slowly grew red from the bottom of her chin all the way up to her forehead until her head exploded like a volcano. "Ugh, fine! Just shut up already!" She shut her eyes and rubbed her temples in annoyance. "You're giving me a headache..."

"Hah! _I'm_ the one giving _you_ a headache?" Altair stared at her unbelievably, struggling to catch his breath from this ridiculously long argument.

Nova heaved a heavy sigh as she looked off to the side, turning her whole body away from Altair as she crossed her arms and lowered her voice to a quiet grumble. "...when do we start?"

Altair grinned as she conceded, glad they were finally getting somewhere with this. "First thing tomorrow morning."

"...fine." Nova stared at anything _but_ Altair, completely annoyed and disappointed with this outcome.

Altair nodded his head and turned to leave. "I'll meet you at your place at first light."

Nova stared at his back in bewilderment as he walked away from her. "What? But how do you even know where I liv...oh. Right..." She suddenly remembered the door incident from yesterday, and she just slapped her face and slowly dragged her hand down it.

Altair kept his back to her and stuck his arm up to briefly wave good-bye. "See you tomorrow, Nova."

Nova gritted her teeth as she turned to the side with her arms crossed, a vein bulging from her forehead all the while. "See you, asshole."

"I heard that." Altair suddenly appeared behind her and leaned in close to her ear with a devilish smirk on his face, then turned on his heel and actually left Iki Town this time.

Nova's cheeks burned in embarrassment, and she clenched her jaw as she angrily threw her fists down to her sides. "Ugh! That self-righteous, son of a..."

* * *

As the hours went by and the sun disappeared behind the horizon, the moon floated back up into its place in the clear night sky, shining brilliantly along with the stars above. The festival filled with lovely music and dancing in Iki Town was now coming to a close, and as the townspeople began blowing out the torches for the night, Lillie jogged to catch up to Nova and began walking back to her house along with her.

"Soooo, what was this about a door?" Lillie looked at Nova curiously, thinking back to that ridiculous scene between her and Altair earlier.

Nova felt her whole body shudder as she recalled that horribly embarrassing moment, and she narrowed her eyes at nothing in particular as she pushed the memory far from her mind and kept walking forwards. "It's nothing. Can we talk about something else?"

Lillie bobbed her head yes as she smiled sweetly. "Sure. Like what?"

Nova just shook her head in annoyance as she glared straight ahead, walking down the front steps out of Iki Town. "Literally _anything_ else."

Lillie stifled a laugh as she bit her lip and looked down at the floor. "Alright, well..." She wracked her brain for something to talk about, and then grinned brightly when she recalled the rescuing of Nebby thanks to her new friend Nova and the guardian deity itself. "Tapu Koko is amazing, isn't it? I hope I can meet it again someday and thank it for saving Nebby..."

Lillie's bag suddenly jerked as Nebby rustled inside. "Pew!"

"Me too..." Nova stared down at her feet as she walked, looking to be more calm and now deeply lost in thought.

"Oh, right. It saved you as well, didn't it?" Lillie looked to Nova as she spoke, almost forgetting that Nova had a reason to be grateful towards Tapu Koko as well. "And left you with that sparkling stone...even though you're a stranger to this place."

Professor Kukui jogged to catch up to the two girls, and he patted them both lightly on the shoulder as he began walking between the two. "Suppose it's time we get you kids home, yeah?"

They all stopped in front of Nova's house at the fork in the road leading to Professor Kukui's lab, and Lille turned to wave good-bye to Nova with a somber smile. "Then I suppose this is good-bye..."

Nova stood in front of her house and watched Professor Kukui and Lillie turn and begin walking towards the lab together. "Bye, Lillie."

When the two disappeared from Nova's sight, she lightly closed her eyes and drew in one long, deep breath. She hated that she lost again today, and that she now had to stick with Altair for Melemele Island. Seriously, could he be any more of a jerky know-it-all? It was just completely unfair. Of all people to get stuck with, why did Professor Kukui choose him!?

Well, besides the fact that he was currently the best of the best in the region, that is...

"Ugh!" Nova cried out in frustration as these thoughts swarmed her mind, and she grabbed at her hair and lightly pulled it to vent her anger.

Nova glared up at the dark night sky speckled with bright stars, as if it were the cause of all her problems. As she looked at the luminescent moon, she felt her anger begin to ebb away as the seconds ticked by, and her frustrated expression melted away as she stared up at the sky in awe. The stars all seemed to glitter and dance together way up in outer space, and Nova felt herself get lost just looking at them.

She sighed and stared down at her feet, muttering incoherent curses to herself as she thought back on her day today. Just as she was about to turn in for the night, a bright light shining from above caught her attention, and Nova looked up just in time to spot a shooting star go soaring across the midnight-blue sky.

The image of the shooting star cutting across the sky was reflected in Nova's sunset eyes as she looked up at it, and as she shut her eyelids lightly, she made a wish.

"I wish I didn't have to be alone anymore..."

* * *

 **OKAY SO LIKE THIS WAS A REALLY FUNNY CHAPTER BUT IT ENDED KINDA SAD AND I HAVE MIXED FEELING ABOUT THIS? XD**

 **Okay, so Altair and Nova finally met for real this time XDDDD how many of you guys died laughing at how ridiculous their bickering was? I know I was cracking myself up just writing it XD XD XD**

 **Also, in this chapter, you finally get to see what Altair's role in the story is: he's the current island challenge champion of Alola and is now Nova's mentor XDDDDD HOW MANY OF YOU SAW THAT COMING?**

 **So I know a ton of you were shocked that I made Nova lose her battle in the last chapter, even though she had the type advantage, but you're probably even more shocked that she lost again in this chapter's battle. As I explained before, I wanted to try something new with this book, and not having my main character be a newbie Pokemon Trainer who's just naturally good at being a Trainer is a part of that. I mean, come on. Realistically, in every game you're getting your first Pokemon and it's your "first" journey as a Pokemon Trainer, so isn't it to be expected that you don't know everything and you have to learn through trial and error?**

 **...plus, if she sucks at battling, it gives Altair an excuse to travel along with her LOLOLOLOLOLOL**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	6. Chapter 6

She stood in the middle of a shallow, large lake between two mountains underneath the blanket of the dark, starry night sky. The crisp, light blue water only came up to her ankles where she stood, and a chilling breeze sifted through her curly white hair as she stood there in a somber silence. The valley between the mountains was blanketed in glowing, iridescent purple flowers and dark, forest green grass that surrounded the clear lake. Several hundred Volbeat and Illumise flying around above lit up as bright as the stars as their red and purple glows reflected on the clear water's surface.

Nova looked down to see she was wearing an all-white, high-low dress with a strapless, sweetheart neckline. The bottom hem of the dress was trimmed with a gorgeous ruffled lace, and the entire gown glittered like the stars with every movement she made. Her white hair was left down as it flowed along with the soft breeze, and she looked around her surroundings in confusion as she began to wonder how she had gotten here.

"Where...is this place?" Nova turned slowly in circles as she examined the valley with a scrutinizing look on her face. She looked up at the dark sky and stared absentmindedly at the luminescent moon, but she suddenly jolted in fear when she caught a glimpse of a dark shadow suddenly rush by her.

"Who's there!?" Nova looked around her in a panic, desperately searching for what just dashed by her and left a cold chill running through her body.

The dark shadow zoomed by her once more, and Nova quickly whirled around and narrowed her eyes as she searched for it within the darkness of the patch of flowers behind her. "Is anyone there? Hello!?" She scanned the dark, grassy area covered in flowers with her eyes, sharply breathing shallow breaths as her heart raced in fear.

As Nova kept her back to the glittering lake, she heard a light splashing sound behind her slowly begin to grow louder and louder. It sounded like someone was walking across the water and heading towards her, and her whole body tensed up in fear as she dreaded turning around.

A familiar scent caught Nova's nose as the dark figure behind her crept closer and closer, and tears pricked at her eyes at the smell of that cologne she recognized anywhere. That horrible, musky sandalwood she hated oh so much.

The footsteps stopped, and as a single tear rolled down Nova's cheek, she worked up the courage within herself to slowly turn around and face the figure behind her.

"Dad...?" Nova meekly called out as she turned around, and she felt her heart slam against her chest and sink down into the pit of her stomach when she was met with absolutely nothing.

The calm breeze suddenly picked up into a whirling, strong wind as it sharply ran through Nova like a cold chill, blowing wildly through her dress and hair as she looked ahead at the empty, open lake in despair.

* * *

Nova shot straight up from her bed in a panic, clutching her heart for support as she heaved in order to catch her breath. Her heart was racing uncontrollably fast as tears pricked at her eyes, and the second she was able to regulate her breathing again, she fell backwards and let her head slam against her pillow as she sunk into her mattress once more.

"Again with that dream..." Nova lightly shut her eyes as her fear from that reoccurring nightmare slowly began to ebb away.

She always had that dream whenever she moved to a new place. Nova thought it was strange that it took two nights for her to have that dream this time. Usually, it happened on the first night, but this time her nightmare waited a little while longer to torture her.

In her nightmare, everything would happen exactly the way that it did this time. She would be standing in the middle of a lake within a mountain valley in the middle of nowhere, and she would smell the scent of her father's horrible cologne and feel as if he was standing right behind her. And when she turned around, he was never there.

"Ugh..." Nova groaned as she reached up with her arms and covered her face with her hands. "Why must you be so cruelly ironic, brain?"

She hated that her subconscious gave her this reoccurring nightmare so often. It always left Nova feeling on edge more than usual for a few days after having it, and she hated how much her absentee father still affected her even years later.

Nova hadn't seen her father in over nine years now. He abandoned both her and her mother without a word when Nova was really young. She never understood why he left, and neither did her mother. Nova didn't really care at this point in her life, but it bugged her that she was still having this dream nine years later.

After her father left, Nova's mother Celine began to move them around a lot. Nova figured that being married and settled down with her husband was the only thing that kept Celine's free spirit from traveling so much, so once her father left...

Well, it was pretty obvious what happened after that.

Nova rolled over in her bed and buried her face in her pillow, already dreading how poor her night's sleep was going to be when she woke up tomorrow morning. She tightly shut her eyes and pushed that dream as far from her mind as she could, and before she knew it, Nova had drifted off into a deep sleep once more...

* * *

Altair Knight stood outside Nova's bedroom door at 9AM sharp this morning, and he gently knocked on it with his knuckles as he leaned in to strain to hear her voice. "Hey, Nova... Are you up?"

No response.

"Nova?" Altair knocked again, but no answer came. He shut his eyes and heaved a heavy sigh, contemplating his options. Stand here knocking for an hour, or go in and wake her up?

Well, they had already lost so much training time already with her over-sleeping, so...

Altair internally kicked himself for having to invade her privacy, but it was necessary. "Hey, I'm coming in." He slowly turned her doorknob and pushed open the door, stepping into Nova's overwhelmingly pastel-yellow room.

Altair carefully shut the door behind him, smiling wryly to himself as he spotted the lump for a girl snoring softly in Nova's bed. He carefully tip-toed closer, peering over her blankets and looking down at the twisted expression Nova wore as she was fast asleep. He bit his lip in attempt not to laugh at her amazingly unattractive, open-mouthed facial expression, and he had to hold his breath at the sound of her soft snoring that was accompanied by a little bit of drool running down her chin.

Altair bit the inside of his cheek as he got an evil idea, and he leaned down just enough to hover by Nova's ear as he softly spoke to her in a sweet tone. "Nova, it's time for school..."

Nova's face contorted as she grunted in her sleep, and she stirred slightly as she grumbled. "Five more minutes, Mom..."

"Mom?" Altair stood straight up with a devilish look on his face. "Last time I checked, we aren't _that_ close."

Nova's eyes snapped wide open at the sound of Altair's smug voice, and she looked up in horror only to meet his smirking face looking down at her.

"AHH!" Nova let out a girlish scream as she rolled out of bed and fell to the floor with a hard thump, taking all of the blankets with her. "Oww..."

Altair grimaced as he looked at Nova's pained expression as a result of both that rude awakening and the hard fall. "Ouch... That kinda looked like it hurt."

Nova angrily shot up to her feet and glared at Altair as fiercely as she could. "Altair, what the hell are you doing in my room!?"

"You sleep really late." Altair pointed out nonchalantly without any regard for how fuming angry Nova was. "It's already way past first light; you're lucky I'm a nice guy and I didn't wake you up three hours ago." He paused, then wickedly grinned at her as he answered her question. "Oh, and your mom let me in. She stepped out to do some shopping about twenty minutes ago."

Nova waffled to form a witty retort to that, and she simply just grabbed Altair and began pushing him out the door with a half embarrassed, half pissed off expression on her face. "Ugh... Just get _out!"_

"Wha...hey!" Altair laughed and cried out incredulously as he felt her hands on his back begin to push him with some truly impressive force. "Nova, just wait a sec..."

"GET OUT SO I CAN GET DRESSED!" Nova screeched like a banshee as she gave Altair's back one final shove, sending him flying out the door as she slammed it in his face as hard as she could.

"OWW! HEY, THAT'S TWICE NOW YOU'VE HIT ME WITH A DOOR!"

Nova covered her face as she whimpered quietly to herself in utter embarrassment, unable to believe that all just happened. Her eyes suddenly snapped wide open in horror at a thought she just had, and she quickly ran over to her wall mirror. "Oh god, how bad do I look!?" She ran her fingers through her horribly tangled bed-head in disgust, and she quickly slapped her cheeks as she stared wildly at her dark bags under her eyes in the mirror. "Was I drooling!?" She wore a disgusted look on her face as she quickly wiped the dried drool from her mouth, and she internally kicked herself and pathetically whimpered as her face grew impossibly red. "This can't be happening..."

Nova sulked into her bathroom and quickly washed her face, making extra sure to get all of the dried drool off that had crusted around her mouth sometime during the night. Did Altair see that...!? Agh... So embarrassing...!

She quickly brushed her teeth and grabbed her makeup kit, then sat down in front of her vanity mirror. Nova wanted to die when she got a good look at the dark circles under her eyes, which Altair has undoubtedly seen when he was in her room a few minutes ago.

"Ugh!" Nova abruptly slammed her face down on her desk in comprehension, not even caring about how much it hurt. "That was way too soon for my adversary to see my morning face..." She abruptly sat up with an angry expression on her face, venting her frustrations as she grabbed at her hair. "As if he'd ever see what I look like first thing in the morning!"

Nova grumbled curses under her breath bitterly the whole time she applied makeup to her face, making an extra effort to conceal the bags under her eyes. She had the _worst_ time getting back to sleep last night after that nightmare, and it clearly showed. She felt too lazy to wear much makeup today, not that she usually did anyway, so Nova stuck with some basic foundation, mascara, black winged eyeliner, and a pink lipstick for today.

Now, the most important question: what to wear?

Now that her face looked less miserable and Nova had tediously ran a brush through her curly hair and smoothed it back down, she got up and stood in front of her closet with a menacing glare. She had to focus and really put thought into what to wear today.

If she dressed up, Altair might get the wrong idea. Like she'd ever dress up for him!

...but if she wore her normal exercise wear, he'd see how much of a laid-back tomboy Nova really was under all her girly habits.

Nova scrutinized the contents of her closet and huffed to herself, crossing her arms. "Fine! I guess I'll just do something in-between, then! That jerk, making me think this hard first thing in the morning..."

She quickly grabbed a random array of articles of clothing and a matching pair of shoes, and she got dressed within five minutes. Nova scanned her jewelry tree and spun it around, trying to find a necklace of some sort to match. Her fingertips froze as she stumbled onto a very antique-looking locket, and Nova found herself unconsciously reaching for it.

She immediately regretted looking inside at the picture of her five-year-old self, hugging her father tightly with the biggest and brightest smile of innocence and naivety.

Nova's eyes narrowed as she snapped the locket shut, and she stomped over to the trash can in her room. She held out her hand that held the locket and opened it above the trash can as she shut her eyes.

...but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

Nova carefully opened her eyes to see that the locket dangled from her open palm where the very edge of the chain was pinched between two of her fingers, and she angrily bit the inside of her cheek as she balled the locket up tightly in her fist and threw it down on her bed. She was livid that even after all this time she still couldn't manage to part with it, no matter how much she hated her deadbeat father. Was it the dream she had last night that was throwing her off balance? She had a feeling that was why she was in an unusually bad mood this morning.

Nova sighed sharply as she motioned to grab Popplio's Pokeball off her nightstand, and she found herself staring down at it in the palm of her hand as the memory of her devastating loss yesterday flashed before her mind. She lost to an eleven-year-old not once, but _twice_. She was nineteen, and she lost to some kid! And not only that, but everyone around her was treating her like one too...

Kahuna Hala meant well, but he made Nova feel like a child from the moment she first met him. She had a feeling he saw her as on the same level as his grandson Hau, which only inflamed her inferiority complex about her age even more. Hau clearly saw her as an equal, which only pissed her off, given that she had eight years of seniority on him. Professor Kukui even felt like Nova needed a babysitter, and he had the nerve to go behind her back and ask Altair to keep an eye on her for the first island of her challenge. And Altair Knight, that insufferable, self-righteous, know-it-all... Ugh!

Nova furiously stuffed Popplio's Pokeball in her purse and stomped over to her bedroom door, about to jerk open the doorknob when she paused and stared at her reflection in the mirror.

Beige ankle boots with a short, chunky heel, a navy-blue, high-waisted, pleated skirt with a matching lace trim, and a white, long-sleeved, button-up, v-neck blouse. Her little beige purse rested on one of her shoulders, and Nova left her hair down as she strung a large, tiered pearl necklace around her neck. Her eyes were what caught her attention the most, though.

There was just so much anger behind them.

Nova sighed at her own reflection, relaxing her previously tensed shoulders as she felt disappointed with herself. "What am I doing...?"

Professor Kukui was just trying to help. Altair, too, as much as it pissed her off.

But... She couldn't help but feel depressed that Professor Kukui had so little faith in her to figure things out on her own that he had to sic Altair on her.

With a heavy sigh, Nova trudged out of her bedroom with slumped shoulders, feeling more withdrawn and bummed out than anything. She had no idea what was in store for her with her first 'training' session with Altair, but... Well, at least she would try and make the most of it.

Nova's cute little nose twitched at the sudden delightful smell of something cooking wafting through the air, coming from the kitchen. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she quickened her pace as she walked down the hallway, and she was absolutely floored by the view in the kitchen she was seeing.

Altair was humming to himself as he stood in front of the stovetop, flipping a rather large pancake with the pan with expert coordination and skill. Nova's eyes widened at the sight of her dining room table being decked out with several plates of food: bacon, eggs, and even toast with butter and jam... There was also a pitcher of juice sitting elegantly in the middle of it all, as well as two empty plates with silverware placed next to them. Two empty glasses were tediously placed with the rest of the tableware, and Nova was absolutely floored with what she was seeing.

Nova bit the inside of her cheek as she narrowed her eyes at Altair's back, even more pissed now that she knew he could cook. "...what are you doing?"

Altair turned and looked at her, smirking as he saw that she was now fully dressed. Although he was kind of disappointed he couldn't see her as that silly drooling mess from earlier, having found it pretty funny. "What does it look like? I'm making you breakfast."

Nova just stared at him unbelievably. "...but _why."_

Altair rose an eyebrow as a determined look came across his face. "When you train with me, we start early, and we build up our energy with a good breakfast to keep us going for the whole day." He flipped his final pancake onto a large plate stacked with several of them, and he carried it over to the table as Nova cautiously took a seat at one of the place settings. "You'll get used to it."

Nova eyed all of the various foods around her in both dumbfounded awe and admiration. "I seriously don't think I'll _ever_ get used to this..."

Altair took a seat across from her as he set the plate of pancakes down, and he grabbed the pitcher of juice and poured himself a glass. "I hope you don't mind, but I sort of just helped myself to whatever was in your kitchen."

"Mind?" Nova stared at him incredulously as she dropped her jaw. "Dude, I can't even make toast without burning it..." A self-deprecating look came across her face as she looked at him, frowning a little as she began buttering a piece of toast and putting it on her plate.

"Hm!" Altair smothered a laugh as he looked at her embarrassed face, and he gestured to her to hand him her plate.

Nova blinked at him curiously, but complied nonetheless. Altair gentlemanly began putting various amounts of everything on her plate, since it was a little hard to reach them from where she sat at the table. He picked up one of the pancakes with a fork and plopped it onto her plate, and as he handed it back to Nova, a bitter look came across her face.

"Why did you make it look like a Stufful?" Nova's intense frown encompassed her whole face as she glared at the cutesy Stufful-shaped pancake. She bitterly grumbled in a low tone as she looked down awkwardly. "I'm not a child..."

Altair's eyes widened when she pointed that out, and a sheepish expression came across his face as he awkwardly reached back and scratched the back of his head. "Oh, sorry. I guess I'm just used to making them for my little sister like that, haha!"

Nova just stared at him and his endearing, embarrassed grin, unable to believe he was for real. Just who _was_ this guy...?

"...you have a sister?" Nova coughed as she awkwardly made conversation, shoveling a huge bite of the Stufful-shaped pancake into her mouth, despite all her complaints. She tried not to make a delighted sound as she got a good taste of the amazing buttery pancake.

Altair bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from laughing at Nova's clearly pleased face, easily seeing through the walls she put up as she enjoyed his cooking. "Yeah, her name's Pandora. She's my pride and joy." He smiled fondly as he thought of the curious little girl playing with her beloved Stufful back at home, missing her already.

"How old is she?" Nova half-heartedly continued the conversation as she engorged herself on her breakfast.

"She's nine." Altair took a swig of his juice as he continued. "We moved here to Alola when she was first born. Better healthcare facilities here."

"Huh?" Nova widened her eyes as he let that slip, unsure of what he meant. "What do you mean?"

Altair seemed to have caught his mistake as he paused, widening his eyes in shock. "Oh! That's right, you're new here." A sheepish grin came across his face that was laced with a hint of sadness underneath. "Sorry, I'm just used to everyone around here already knowing me and Pandora, and our family's situation."

Nova's whole face twisted in confusion as she pressed him for answers. "What are you talking about? If you don't mind me asking, I mean..."

Altair looked despondent as he avoided Nova's strong gaze, staring absentmindedly out the window. "Ah, it's alright. She's okay now, more or less, but Pandora was born two months premature. Her lungs hadn't fully developed yet, as well as her other organs, so she's just been a very frail, weak girl since the moment she was born." He glanced down at his plate as he began to pick at his food with his fork. "She has trouble breathing sometimes, and she can't over exert herself too much. Alola has some really good healthcare facilities for kids that have my sister's specific condition, so that's why we moved here when I was eleven. I've lived here ever since."

Nova felt herself awkwardly shifting in her seat, not really knowing what to say in response. "Oh... I'm really sorry." Altair didn't say anything to that, so Nova cleared her throat and changed the subject. "So...you're not originally from Alola?"

Altair's smirk was back in no time as he looked over in Nova's direction, and it was as if his spirits had never been low at all. "Well, I don't really look much like the locals, now do I?"

No he most certainly did _not_.

Nova's eyes were drawn to his almost triangular-shaped body type, starting with his broad shoulders that came down to a narrower waist. His light grey, button-down shirt was loosely buttoned only halfway up, and the collar messily stuck up as if he hadn't a care in the world. Over top of that was a darker grey vest, and Nova caught sight of the worn, black leather jacket strung over the back of his chair behind him. His rather longish, shaggy black hair naturally fell in front of his alluring purple eyes, which was a stark contrast to his rather light skin. Even though he wasn't showing much skin, it was hard not to notice Altair's strong figure and toned muscles.

"Nova?" Altair rose an eyebrow as he looked at her, catching her in the act of checking him out. "You can stop staring at me now, you know." He flashed her a quick, snarky grin, casually bringing the brim of his glass to his lips.

Nova jolted with surprise as her attention was suddenly called by him, and her whole face was red as she embarrassingly covered her mouth with her hand. "I-I wasn't staring at you! I just...!" She waffled for a response, and as Altair chuckled at how flustered she was, Nova suddenly snapped and slammed her hand down on the table. "Can we just get on with all this training already!?"

Altair quickly shut his mouth at her sudden outburst, trying his best to respect her wishes and not crack a grin at how funny her reactions were to watch. "Alright, I'm game. So, I figured we should start with the basics and chat for a bit about Alola first."

Nova's eyebrows twitched slightly as she shot Altair a confused look. "Why? Isn't it the same as any other region?"

"Actually, no." Altair smiled wryly as he looked at her. "Alola's quite different than every other region in this world."

Nova felt herself naturally tilting her head to the side as she prodded him for more information out of sheer curiosity. "How so?"

Altair tried not to laugh at how adorable she could be when she wasn't too busy being pissed off at something stupid or slamming a door in his face. "Well, for starters, there are no gyms or Gym Leaders. No Pokemon League, either."

Nova screwed up her face in shock as she cried out. "What!?" She crossed her arms tightly over her chest and knitted her brow together. "What the hell am I supposed to do on this challenge, then!?"

"Haha!" Altair enchantingly laughed at how quick her personality did a one-eighty. "Hold on, don't get too ahead of yourself. Give me a chance to explain first."

Nova stuck out her bottom lip to pout as she sunk back further into her chair, bitterly crossing her arms and looking off to the side. "Sorry..."

"Alright, so this is how it works." Altair clapped his hands together and leaned in across the table a little as he made eye contact with her. "Alola's made up of four islands, and each island has a Kahuna presiding over them."

Nova's face relaxed once more as she quirked an eyebrow. "Like Kahuna Hala?"

"Exactly." Altair simply nodded his head as he continued to explain how the region worked. "Kahuna Hala was chosen to watch over Melemele Island by the guardian Tapu Koko, just like the other Kahunas were chosen by their respected guardian Pokemon: Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tapu Fini...and so on."

"Tapu Koko?" Nova's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline at the sound of that familiar name, and she found herself staring down at the table, quietly muttering to herself as she became lost within her own thoughts. "That's the Pokemon that saved me two days ago..."

"Hm?" Altair looked at her in confusion, not having heard what she just said.

Nova felt herself become a little flustered at the thought of explaining the whole bridge fiasco to Altair, not wanting to give him another thing to tease her about, so she quickly covered for herself. "Oh, uh... It's nothing."

Altair looked at her face in suspicion for a moment as he studied her killer poker face, finally giving up after a minute and going back to their conversation from before. "Well, instead of gyms, we have trials here. Each trial is run by a Captain, who are kind of similar to Gym Leaders in a sense."

Nova's interest was piqued by that as she unconsciously leaned forward to listen to him more attentively. "Oh, really? How?"

Altair smirked a little as he noticed her becoming more interested in this conversation. It was nice actually being able to talk to her about something, rather than just bickering back and forth nonstop. "Captains run their trial sites, and you have to complete a certain task issued by the Captain in order to pass." He laughed a little as he saw Nova's eyes practically gleam in anticipation as he continued. "Each trial varies from Captain to Captain, so I can't give you any specifics, really. But once you complete a trial, you'll be given a Z-Crystal specific to the Captain's preferred Pokemon type in recognition."

Nova thoughtfully nodded her head as she began to take in all of this information. "Like type-specific Gym Leaders and their badges?"

The corners of Altair's mouth naturally curled up into a smile as he watched how quick she was catching on to all of this. "Yeah, exactly like that."

"Z-Crystals are for this thing, right?" Nova held up her wrist and pointed to the bracelet Kahuna Hala had given her yesterday, genuinely curious about the thing.

"Mmhmm. That's your Z-Ring." Altair nodded his head between taking a few more bites of his breakfast. "Hmm...how to explain..." He paused and pressed a finger to his lips as he carefully thought over his words. "Ever hear of Mega Evolution?"

"Mega Evolution?" Nova's eyes instinctively widened at the familiar term. "Yeah, of course. That's a huge thing to practice and study back where I'm originally from."

Altair stopped everything he was doing as those words left her lips, focusing only on her with widened eyes. "You're from Kalos?"

"Well...yeah." Nova's eyes snapped open in surprise at his eager look, and she awkwardly averted her gaze and looked around. "Although I've moved around so much, it's kind of hard to remember that..."

Altair's smile practically encompassed his whole face as he let out a laugh that sounded as comforting as bell chimes on a peaceful morning. "Huh, that's a weird coincidence. I'm Kalosian too!"

"Seriously?" Nova stared at him wildly with her big, sunset-orange eyes, shocked to hear this.

Altair eagerly nodded his head as he flashed her an ecstatic grin. "Yeah! I'm from Dendemille Town. You?"

"Couriway!" Nova's bitter facade seemed to falter briefly as a genuine smile came across her face, shocking Altair to his very core.

"Huh, that's really cool." Altair found himself staring at her sunny smile in awe, flashing her an unbalanced grin as he looked at her. "Who knows, maybe we bumped into each other as kids once?"

Nova's smile seemed to disappear as she awkwardly stared down at her lap. "Hah, yeah... Who knows."

Altair paused to wonder what made her smile vanish so quickly, kind of sad to see it go so fast. He changed the subject as Nova put her walls right back up again. "Well, anyways, your Z-Ring is a lot similar to Mega Rings and Mega Evolution." He rolled up his sleeve to show her his own Z-Ring, which had previously been concealed under his shirt sleeve. "Instead of mega stones, you get Z-Crystals here, and what those do is power up a Pokemon's moves."

"Their moves?" Nova's head tilted to the side as she stared at Altair with utmost confusion, listening intently in order to understand this.

"Yeah." Altair nodded his head as he chose his words carefully, trying to explain this to her in the easiest way possible. "So you know how mega stones can unlock a power within a Pokemon and allow them to evolve into another form?"

Nova nodded her head, having remembered something about this from her time spent in Kalos. "Yeah, something about a Trainer's bond with their Pokemon, right?"

"Exactly." Altair pointed at her with a smirk, grinning at her correct answer. "The stronger your bond is with a Pokemon, the more you can power up their moves and unlock that special Z-Power with the help of your Z-Ring."

Nova slowly nodded her head as she processed all of this new information. "Ah, I see."

"...but you really don't need to worry much about that right now." Altair chuckled a little as he got a good look at the stupid expression on her face, seeing how hard she was trying to retain all of this. "Today, we're just going to focus on the basics."

Everything she was thinking was clearly written all over Nova's face as she slowly exhaled in relief. "Oh... Okay."

"You seem relieved." Altair smirked down at his food as he took a bite of his pancake, not even looking at her as he smugly made this observation.

Nova's eyes snapped wide open in shock, completely stunned that he somehow had just read her mind. "W-what! N-no, I..."

Altair wryly smiled at her as he took a sip of his juice. "Don't worry, Nova. I'm not going to overwhelm you too much on your first day."

Nova paused and watched him finish his breakfast in silence, awkwardly shifting in her chair as she found herself not really knowing what to say. "...thanks."

"Don't mention it." Altair didn't look at her as he cleared their dishes away, taking them over to the sink to wash.

Nova watched as Altair just took care of everything...from the cooking to the washing of the dishes, trying to find the right words to say. "...umm..."

"Hm? Something wrong?" Altair looked up and over his shoulder at her, pausing in the middle of scrubbing the plates.

Nova's eyes fell to the floor hesitantly as she spoke what was on her mind. "Yesterday... They said you're the Island Challenge Champion. Is that true?"

Altair closed his eyes and nodded his head one time as an awkward look came across his face. "Ah, that."

Nova didn't understand why he acted so strangely about being the Champion, and she found herself narrowing her eyes at him slightly in confusion. "But I thought there wasn't a Pokemon League or anything here, so how...?"

Altair looked down and kept his back to her as he started to dry the dishes he just washed. "Well, the island challengers are tasked with completing all seven of the challenges held by their respected Captains. And once you complete the challenges, you battle each Kahuna in order to have them recognize you as worthy." He quickly put everything back where he got it from, turning to face Nova as he casually rolled his shirt sleeves back down. "Once you beat them, you become the Island Challenge Champion." Altair placed his hands on the back of his chair as he leaned forward slightly, looking directly at Nova in the eyes. "It's not quite the same thing as being the Pokemon League Champion, but for now it's the highest position you can obtain here in Alola."

Nova looked up from her lap and awkwardly met Altair's strong gaze. "So... _You're_ the Champion?"

Altair's eyes darted away from hers as she looked at him, and he awkwardly scratched the back of his head as he spoke. "Well, I'm at least one of them. There's only been a few of us who have gone all the way and completed the island challenge, and I'm just the last one who's done it." He looked down and negatively shook his head to himself, frowning a little as he did so. "That was nine years ago, though."

"Wow..." Nova couldn't help but widen her eyes slightly in awe, but Altair didn't seem to share her excitement.

"It's really not a big deal." Altair didn't look at her once as he stared out the window, growing more and more distant from the conversation with each passing minute.

Nova quirked an eyebrow as she suspiciously eyed his depressing mood. "...Geez. Modest, too." She frowned as she leaned her head in her hand, propping her elbow up on the table as she glared at him in annoyance. "Do you just not have _any_ flaws, Mr. Perfect?"

Well that seemed to snap him out of his trance.

"Mr. Perfect?" Altair whirled around and stared at her in shock, widening his eyes slightly as he met her scrutinizing gaze.

Nova smirked wryly to herself as she began counting off some of the qualities she had observed about him since they first met. "You're some hot-shot Champion of a region, stupidly determined to help me for reasons I don't even understand, an amazing cook, super modest, knowledgeable..." She trailed off as she spoke as the tiniest, bitter smile found its way to her lips. "It's kind of annoying how hard you make it to hate you."

Altair took this opportunity to change the subject and turn the tables on Nova, wanting to avoid talking about this. "Oh? Does this mean you're warming up to me now?" He grinned as he leaned in close to Nova from across the table, instantly making her as flustered and uncomfortable as he thought she would be.

"NO!" Nova snapped at him as she felt her cheeks color red in embarrassment, and she turned away from him awkwardly in her chair as she crossed her arms.

Luckily for Nova, the sound of the doorbell reverberating through the house saved her from Altair's teasing, and she narrowed her eyes slightly in annoyance.

"Who the hell could that be?" Nova glared over at the door as if it were the source for all her problems. "If it's Kukui, he'll let himself in without even waiting for me to open the door..." She sighed bitterly as she rubbed her temples in attempt to rid herself of her headache.

"You should probably go check anyways." Altair nonchalantly suggested before suddenly getting a wicked grin on his face. "Or would you rather I go get it instead?"

Nova's eyes quickly widened in horror at the thought of Altair answering the door instead of her. Let him answer the door and have to explain to whoever rang the bell what he was doing in her house this early in the morning while her mom was out? HAH! No.

Nova quickly scrambled up and nearly tripped over her chair as she ran over towards the door. "No, no, it's fine! I got it!" She turned her head back to quickly shoot him a glare, ushering him to stay put. "You stay here."

Altair instantly knew what she was thinking just from the flustered look on her face, and he held up his hands innocently as he grinned at her. "Really, it's no problem, I can..."

Nova stopped and whirled around just long enough to angrily yell at him, throwing her tightly balled up fists down to her sides. "JUST SIT DOWN AND STAY PUT!"

Altair threw his hands up in defense as he smothered a laugh, casually sitting back down in his chair as he sarcastically rolled his eyes. "Yes, your highness..."

By the time Nova reached the door and opened it, she saw that the person who had walked up and rang the doorbell had already begun to walk back down the steps in attempt to leave.

"Lillie...?" Nova widened her eyes slightly at the sight of the familiar blonde, wondering what she was doing here.

Lillie stopped when she heard Nova's voice, and she gripped her Pokeball-themed drum bag as she hesitantly met her eyes. "Nova, the professor said..."

"Hey, Lillie!" Altair suddenly came up from behind Nova, clapping her on the shoulder enthusiastically as he stood right behind her with his leather jacket swung over his shoulder, completely invading her personal space bubble.

Nova gritted her teeth and shut her eyes as she felt her whole body tense up, angrily fuming under her breath at the taller boy. "Altair, I swear to god..."

Lillie's face flushed bright red, and she slapped a hand over her mouth as she timidly shied away from the door. "O-oh, um, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to interrupt, um, I can come back later..."

Nova's cheeks burned as she realized Lillie had gotten the wrong idea, and she frantically waved her hands back and forth as Altair cracked up laughing. "No, no, no! Lillie, you're not interrupting anything! Seriously!" She shot the blonde a pleading look, looking absolutely defeated as she briefly glared at Altair from the side. "Please, what is it?"

Lillie awkwardly pulled at the hem of her dress as she rocked back and forth on her heels. "U-um... The professor asked me to come get you, so I'm here to escort you to his Pokemon Lab, if you'll come with me."

Nova sighed sharply to herself as she rolled her eyes. "Why does everyone in this damn hemisphere have no faith in my sense of direction..."

"Probably because it sucks." Altair coolly responded to her rhetorical question as he walked out the door with a cocky grin on his face, purposefully bumping into Nova's shoulder on his way out.

Nova dropped her jaw angrily as she quickly regained her balance. "Wha...!? Hey!"

Before Nova could really say anything else to Altair, her mother suddenly came around the corner with a large paper bag of groceries in her arms. "Oh, Nova!"

"Mom?" Nova's angry demeanor melted away as soon as she blinked at her mother owlishly.

"Before you go... I just wanted to wish you good luck." Celine gave her daughter the biggest, brightest grin she could possibly muster. "Seriously, I mean it."

"Oh... Thanks." Nova awkwardly smiled back, not really knowing what to say to that after all the arguing they had been doing about the move the past few days.

"Don't forget to call me sometimes, okay?" Celine nudged her daughter with her elbow as a wry grin came across her face. "I'm going to miss you so much while you're gone!"

Nova felt her face relax as a smile laced with sadness came across her face. "Okay, Mom. I promise."

Celine stood in the open doorway as Nova walked down the front porch's steps, and she waved good-bye to the three young adults. "Bye! Have fun!" She paused as a serious look came across her face, and she pointed to the only boy out of the three standing before her. "Altair, you be sure to look out for my daughter, alright? She's all I have."

"Mom!" Nova embarrassingly cried out as she glared at her mother, stomping on the ground with one foot as she balled her hands into tight fists.

"Don't worry, Ms. Lise." Altair gave her a little wave as a sadistic smile came across his face, and he turned to smirk at Nova as he leaned close to her face. "I have every intention of keeping a very close eye on your daughter."

"Ugh..." Nova closed her eyes as she exhaled her annoyance, only causing Altair to laugh at her.

"Now that's what I like to hear!" Celine chuckled as she clapped her hands together, turning to go back into the house. "Bye, Nova!"

Lillie stared at the door as Celine closed it, seemingly off in another world as she looked at the place where Nova's mother just was. "You...have a very nice mother." Whatever mood she was in, she seemed to snap right out of it as she turned to look at Nova and Altair. "We should get going. I'll show you to the Pokemon Research Lab."

"I've been there once before!" Nova cried out in displeasure, groaning as she rolled her eyes.

Nova's complaints seemed to fall on deaf ears as Lillie walked ahead, taking the lead as she led the two behind her down a small hill blanketed with tall grass. "You can only reach the professor's lab by treading through the tall grass down here. Since I'm not a Trainer, though, I have to rely on repels to get by." A little bead of sweat rolled down Lillie's forehead as a sheepish look came across her face. "The professor says he can research moves better when he is surrounded by so many Pokemon, so I would assume that is why he set up his lab down here on this beachfront."

"That sounds like him." Nova rolled her eyes as they reached the bottom of the small hill, now standing on the little, secluded, sandy beachfront with a sole hut placed on it.

What Nova said seemed to have made Lillie realize something, and the blonde looked at Nova curiously as it dawned on her. "Oh, right... You're his cousin, aren't you?"

Nova cocked her head to the side as she shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, but we've got a solid fourteen years of age difference between us."

Lillie slowly nodded her head in response to that. "Ah, I thought it was strange that you looked so young compared to him, and that you were just now starting your journey..."

Nova's face grew red from top to bottom as steam practically shot out of her ears. "God, it's not that strange to get a late start on a Pokemon challenge!"

"HAHAHA!" Altair had to hold onto his stomach as he let out that huge laugh, only enraging the white-haired beauty more.

"SHUT UP!" Nova embarrassingly turned to Altair as she barked at him.

Lillie awkwardly grinned as she tried to remain calm on the outside, even though she was internally panicking at just how much those two clashed and didn't get along. "Oh, um, Nova..."

"Hm?" Nova's angry facade shattered as she turned to Lillie with a curious expression on her face, only causing Altair to smirk and roll his eyes at how quick her mood flipped the switch.

"About Nebby...er, I mean, Cosmog..." Lillie quickly corrected herself as a worried expression came across her face. "Cosmog seems to be a very rare Pokemon. It came from far, far away."

"Pew!" Lillie's bag shook, only making the blonde grimace in annoyance and hold onto it tight in order to steady it.

"It seems to have a very strange power..." Lillie sighed as she finally got her bag to stay still, shooting it once last glare before she turned and looked at Nova once more. "It used that power to save me once when I was in danger." She frowned a little guiltily at that, glancing down at the bag. "But some... _other_ people want Cosmog for themselves, to use that power." She looked straight ahead at Nova, gesturing to Altair who was standing beside her. "That's why only the professor, Kahuna Hala, and other people I trust, such as Altair, know about it..."

"Wait, you know about Cosmog too?" Nova turned to Altair with widened eyes, not having any clue that he was in on the little secret.

"What? You're kidding, right?" Altair laughed a little as he looked at her incredulously. "You've seen how much that little ball of mischief likes to escape Lillie's bag."

They both simultaneously looked over at Lillie struggling to get her bag to stop shaking, and a sheepish look came across Nova's face as she awkwardly grabbed the back of her neck. "Hah... I guess you have a point there."

"Can you keep a secret?" Lillie shot Nova a pleading look, swearing her new acquaintance to secrecy. "Can you not tell anyone else about Nebby or what happened on that bridge? Please..."

Nova flashed Lillie a tired smile as she reassured her. "Don't worry about it, Lillie. I won't say anything."

"Thank you...!" Lillie's whole face erupted into the sunniest grin at Nova's response.

Altair placed his hand on Nova's back as he ushered her forward, then began walking ahead of her as they motioned in the direction of the lab. "Now, come on, let's get going to see the professor already. Knowing him, he's eager to show you something, Nova."

Nova looked off-put as she glared at Altair's back for pushing her along, annoyed beyond comprehension as she rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Coming, _mother."_

"I heard that."

"WOULD YOU STOP HAVING SUCH PERFECT HEARING...!"

Lillie let out a distressed sigh as she watched Nova run ahead and chase after Altair, who just proceeded to laugh and run ahead of her further every time she tried to catch up to him. She looked down at her bag as a tired, unbalanced smile found its way to her lips, and she sighed once more at the sight of the small hut shaking as loud noises from a Pokemon battle began to erupt from it.

"Sigh... There they go again." Lillie complained under her breath as she shook her head, dreading what the current state of the lab looked like as she caught up to Nova and Altair.

"Don't tell me he's battling _inside_ the lab..." Nova stared ahead in dumbfounded shock, unable to imagine how this could possibly go well.

"The Pokemon Research Lab has its own charm, as you can see." Lillie sweatdropped a little at the exclamation, and she sheepishly looked over at Nova as she walked up to the front steps. "I've actually been, um, imposing on the professor here for the past three months." She let out a tiny, awkward laugh, meekly reaching up to adjust the brim of her white sun hat. "I'm not much of an assistant, but it's the least I can do to pay him back for letting me stay here." A depressing expression encompassed Lillie's whole face suddenly as she frowned down at the sand. "Maybe I'd be more help if I were a real Pokemon Trainer, too..."

"Lillie..." Nova sympathized with Lillie's strife, frowning along with her.

Even louder banging noises and Pokemon cries erupted from inside the hut, as well as several "woohoos!" and "yeahs!" from Professor Kukui.

"The professor...he never stops researching moves." Lillie shook her head as an awkward smile came across her face. "Not even...inside the lab itself." She looked exhausted as she slumped her shoulders, pressing a hand to her forehead. "Looks like we'll have to patch the roof again... And I had just washed his lab coat and gotten it clean, too. Now it'll be in shreds..." She whined quietly to herself as she dreaded how much more cleaning and fixing she'd inevitably have to do today. "And I'm no good at mending clothes...so he'll just have to buy another new one..."

"Ah, don't worry about that, Lillie." Altair patted her on the back comfortingly as he wore a charming grin. "I'll always help you with repairing the place if you ever need it. And that guy goes through so many lab coats; no one expects you to keep up with him."

"Thanks, Altair. I really appreciate that." Lillie's exhausted look completely vanished as it was replaced with an ecstatic smile.

Nova awkwardly stared on at the shaking hut, pointing ahead to it as a nervous bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. "...we should probably go inside before he does any more damage."

"Agreed." Altair and Lillie both nodded their heads as they spoke in unison.

The three quickly ran inside the lab before Professor Kukui could destroy anything else, and Lillie instantly groaned at the sight of all the overturned furniture and Pokemon footprints all over the rugs she had just vacuumed this morning. Professor Kukui and Rockruff stood in the middle of all the chaos with sheepish looks on their faces.

"Hey there, Nova!" Professor Kukui waved over to his cousin, who only groaned and slapped her forehead as she pretended not to know him. "Thanks for getting her for me, Lillie!"

"Of course. However I can be a help..." Lillie sighed as she looked around at the huge mess, already making a mental note of all the extra chores she would have to do now. "I am supposed to be your assistant, right?"

"Rockruff's moves were just so stylin', and I was making good progress with my research." Professor Kukui grinned excitedly to Lillie as he made an excuse for battling indoors again, and the blonde only looked more miserable as she was unable to respond to that. "Say, Nova, lemme see your Pokedex for a sec, would yah?" Professor Kukui held out his hand to his cousin, who stared at him wide-eyed in response.

"Oh, uh... Sure." Caught off guard by his sudden request, Nova quickly began rummaging through her bag for her Pokedex with a confused expression on her face. "Here you go." She held out the red, rectangular-shaped object to him, only to have her cousin immediately grab it from her with an eager look on his face.

"So, what do you think of the place?" Professor Kukui took her Pokedex in his hands as he looked around. "Not bad, huh?"

Aside from all the overturned furniture and dirt-covered paw prints everywhere, Nova had to admit that it was pretty impressive. For a tiny hut on a beach, the whole place was furnished pretty well, and there was even a loft and a bottom floor to the place. In the back was a giant fish tank filled with Luvdisc, and Nova found herself staring at her cousin with a confused look on her face alongside Lillie as they both realized Professor Kukui was talking to the Pokedex and not them.

"Huh...?" Lillie quirked a brow at the Professor, who was seemingly holding a one-sided conversation with Nova's Pokedex.

"But that's not why I called you here, eh?" Professor Kukui seemed pleased with himself as he pulled out a box from his desk, and he grinned excitedly. "Here! It finally arrived!"

" _It_...?" Lillie's face twisted into an even _more_ confused expression, which would have been comical to Nova if she hadn't been making the same face as they both looked at Professor Kukui.

"What's wrong, Lillie?" Professor Kukui looked over at his assistant as if nothing strange was going on whatsoever. "Don't make me do all the talking!" He paused at Lillie's dumbfounded look, and he laughed heartily as he began equipping a new part to Nova's Pokedex. "See, there's this Pokemon inside your Pokedex called Rotom..."

"Rotom?" Nova looked over at Kukui in utmost confusion, remembering a little something about that Pokemon. She had once encountered one in an old mansion back when she lived in Sinnoh, and...well...

Let's just say that when you scare a Rotom, your hair tends to be nothing but a frizzy mess for the next few days, if not a week or two.

What Professor Kukui was doing seemed to finally dawn on Lillie, and she turned to Nova with a smile as the professor continued to fiddle with her Pokedex. "Oh, I can tell you about Rotom! It is a peculiar Pokemon with a body made up of something like electricity. It can take up residence in machines."

Nova grimaced as she subconsciously began running her fingers through her hair, only causing Altair to laugh and give her a weird look. "Oh yes, I'm pretty sure I've met one before..."

"And to put that crazy skill of Rotom's to work..." Professor Kukui excitedly began talking about the Pokedex as he began finishing up the upgrade. "It's the next generation of Pokedexes, but it's only complete once Rotom has gone into this body specially developed for it!" He practically had stars in his eyes as a kid-in-a-candy-store look encompassed his whole face. "A whole new way for people and Pokemon to communicate. Woo!" He grinned and gave Nova a thumbs up. "And there's only a few of these beauties out in the world so far!"

"What, really...?" Nova's eyes instinctively widened in awe as she quickly looked to Altair beside her.

"Yeah, even I don't have one of those." Altair shook his head, confirming Nova's unspoken question.

"And now if I power up your Pokedex with the parts that I just got in..." Professor Kukui had a look of concentration on his face as he pushed a few buttons, and...

"Kzzzt!"

A bright flash of light erupted from Nova's Pokedex, and the little startled electric Pokemon came flying out and headed straight for Nova.

"Whoa!" Nova leaned back to dodge the Rotom suddenly flying at her, but she lost her footing and began to fall backwards.

Altair widened his eyes in panic as he saw what was about to happen, and he quickly reached out for her and lunged forward. "Oh, Nova, look out...!"

Nova braced herself for impact, but as seconds ticked by and no pain came, she cautiously opened her eyes only to see Altair's right in front of her.

Altair had effortlessly reached out and caught her in a lunge, holding her up and supporting her with one of his arms that was around Nova's lower back. Their faces were dangerously close, but the only one who seemed to notice this, or care, for that matter, was Nova.

"Um, you can let go of me now..." Nova bit her tongue as she felt her cheeks flushing ever so slightly at their close proximity.

"Ah, right. Sorry." Altair smoothly pulled her back up to a standing position with incredible strength, worriedly looking over her. "You okay?"

"Just fine..." Nova awkwardly looked away from him, shooting the Rotom hovering beside her a nasty glare.

"Sorry 'bout that, Rotom." Professor Kukui sheepishly apologized to the Rotom as he adjusted the brim of his baseball cap. "Guess I surprised you?"

"Zzzt?" Rotom looked away from his glaring contest with Nova, now glancing over at Professor Kukui.

"Rotom, here! I powered up your favorite 'Dex!" Professor Kukui finished all of the adjustments he was making, then held the Pokedex out to Rotom with a smile. "Give Nova here a helping hand, hm?"

"Kzzzttt!" Rotom eagerly flew into the Pokedex and disappeared, and to Nova's surprise, the Pokedex took a Rotom-like shape as its face appeared on the screen. Rotom flew around Nova in a circle before landing in her hands, and it looked up at her with a grin on its face...er, screen? "Hi, Nova! Itzzzzz nice to meet you!"

"Ahh!" Nova let out the cutest, girlish shriek as she nearly dropped her Pokedex from shock. "You can talk!?"

Rotom looked annoyed as he sassed his new Trainer with an electronic-like voice. "Of courzzz I can talk, silly girl. Dontzzz you have earzzz?"

"Wha...!" Nova dropped her jaw at Rotom's snarky attitude, then quickly hardened her expression into a glare as Altair busted out laughing. "Hey now, I don't need your sass, mister!"

"Hahah!" Professor Kukui wiped a tear from his eye as he laughed, then pointed over at the Pokedex in Nova's hand. "See, Nova? Now Rotom can talk right to you!"

"I can see that..." Nova bitterly glared at Rotom, who stuck out a tongue at her in response.

"From what I can tell, yeah, it looks like Rotom has taken a liking to you!" Professor Kukui gave her a positive thumbs up, thrilled that this worked out so well.

Nova rose a single eyebrow as she shot her cousin a look, rolling her eyes. "...by flaunting its snarky attitude? I've already got a tour guide with one of those, thanks."

Altair stopped his little side conversation with Lillie and looked over at Nova at the sound of her voice. "Hmm? Did you say something?"

"Nothing..." Nova awkwardly averted his gaze, mentally cursing his good hearing.

"And this will help, how, exactly?" Lillie cocked her head to the side in confusion, voicing both her and Nova's thoughts.

"Nova hasn't been here in Alola too long yet, hence why I asked Altair to stick around with her." Professor Kukui pointed to Altair, who comically saluted him in turn. "So, I decided to give her this special Rotom Dex as well to help her navigate around once he's done training her."

"Thanks, Kukui." Nova smiled at her cousin's thoughtfulness. He always did like to look out for her, ever since she was little, too.

"Don't sweat it, cousin!" Professor Kukui clapped her on the back with his usual force, causing Nova to let out a distressed cough and fall forwards a little.

The door to the lab suddenly opened, and a certain familiar eleven-year-old grandson of Kahuna Hala strode in. "A-lo-la!" Hau grinned brightly as he waved to everyone, and Nova turned to look at him.

"Hau..." Nova blinked her eyes at his sudden entrance, and her eleven-year-old rival walked right past her.

"The salty breeze sang to me and brought me here to you!" Hau outstretched his arms comically, earning a laugh from Lillie. He then paused to look around excitedly, not having been to the lab before today. He stopped in front of a ladder leading up to the loft, pointing up at it. "Whoa-ho-ho! Is that a loft? Cool!"

"No, it's not!" Lillie suddenly flew in front of Hau and protectively stood in front of the ladder with her arms out. "It's private!"

"Huh?" Hau looked confused at Lillie's sudden behavior, not picking up on the hint.

"Um...the professor has been kind enough to let me use it..." Lillie awkwardly tried to explain, looking kind of sheepish as she faced Hau.

Nova sighed and rolled her eyes as she saw that Hau still wasn't getting it, so she stepped in to save the blonde. "...in other words, Hau, it's girl's territory. Off-limits to boys such as yourself."

"Ah, gotcha." Hau awkwardly grinned as he apologetically nodded his head in understanding. "Sorry, Lillie!"

Professor Kukui smiled as he looked over at Lillie, placing a hand on Altair's shoulder. "If you see a person or a Pokemon who needs help, you just help them... Right, Altair?"

"Right." Altair didn't even hesitate to nod his head, firmly crossing his arms over his chest with a endearing smile on his face.

"And that's why I'm letting Lillie stay up there in the loft." Professor Kukui nodded his head as he wore an eager expression. "Alright, Nova, now that you've got your Rotom Dex, let me explain a few things about your Island Challenge."

Nova widened her eyes and blinked a few times as she looked from her cousin over to Altair. "Oh, Altair's already given me a pretty good run-down of what it entails, Kukui."

"Has he now? Good! Then I'll make this brief." Professor Kukui looked over at the black-haired man in question, grinning ecstatically as he clapped him on the back. Nova dropped her jaw when she saw that Altair didn't even _budge_ from the full force of her cousin's strength, only causing her to wonder just how strong Altair _really_ was. "The Island Challenge is your chance to become the strongest Trainer around...the Island Challenge Champion!" Professor Kukui clapped his hands together excitedly, drawing Nova's attention.

"Like Mr. Perfect here?" Nova casually ribbed Altair with her elbow, who only reached over and playfully shoved her in response as he kept his gaze straight ahead.

"Exactly!" Professor Kukui grinned, then suddenly looked confused by what Nova called Altair. "Wait, huh?"

"Never mind." Nova suddenly shook her head as she dismissed it. "Forget it."

"Ah, well, it's a great adventure for you and your Pokemon to go on together!" Professor Kukui resumed his mini speech, and he rested his hands on his waist as he beamed at his cousin. "Nova, I want you and Popplio to go out there and give it a shot!"

Nova looked hesitant at first, but she quickly found herself slowly starting to smile as her cousin's infectious positivity was starting to rub off on her. "I... Alright. I'll do it!"

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" Professor Kukui clapped her on the back even harder this time, sending Nova crashing face-first into the floor. Altair lost it and laughed incredibly hard as he helped her up from the floor, and the professor didn't even seem to notice that any of this happened as he turned off to the side and continued on with his speech. "As someone who's dedicated my life to studying Pokemon moves, I really want to see you out there meeting all kinds of Pokemon on your Island Challenge!"

"Okay, Kukui. I'll do my best." Nova frowned as she dusted the dirt off of herself, shooting Altair a glare as he tried to smother his laughter.

Professor Kukui appeared to suddenly have a lightbulb go off over his head as he reached into his pocket and handed something to Nova. "That reminds me, here!"

"Hm? What is this?" Nova accepted the strange-looking charm from her cousin, looking over the colorful amulet carefully.

"Everybody on the Island Challenge gets one of these Island Challenge amulets." Professor Kukui pointed to the amulet he just handed Nova as he explained, answering Nova's inquiry.

"I got one from my gramps, too." Hau chimed in, turning to show Nova the amulet clipped to his backpack.

"Alright then, Nova, Altair! You too, Hau!" Professor Kukui grabbed the kids by their shoulders and began shoving them out the door. "Get a move on!"

"Huh? Where?" Nova suddenly looked back at her hyper cousin in a panic.

"To the Trainer's School!" Professor Kukui cracked up laughing at the instantaneous look of dread on Nova's face, and he quickly began to elaborate. "You've gotta learn the basics of being a Pokemon Trainer through Pokemon battling. It's a long road to becoming the Island Challenge Champion, and the Trainers' School is the first step!"

"What!?" Nova cried out in displeasure at the word 'school,' and she looked over at Altair accusingly. "But I thought you were going to teach me all of this, Altair?"

Altair quirked an eyebrow at the look on Nova's face, and he teasingly leaned in to smirk at her. "Oh don't worry, I still am. After all, I am one of the teachers there, Nova." He laughed when her whole face fell into a glare, and he playfully poked her in the center of her forehead. "There's no need to look so disappointed."

"Disappointed...?" Nova looked offended as she glared at Altair, immediately turning away from him in a huff as she crossed her arms and tilted her chin up at the air. "As if!"

"Haha!" Altair held his stomach as he laughed at Nova's usual huffiness, finding it utterly hilarious.

"What about you, Hau?" Professor Kukui looked over at the younger boy, wondering what his plans were.

"I'm good! I just want to play with my Pokemon..." Hau innocently let his plans to goof off slip, instantly looking horrified as he quickly tried to cover for himself. "I mean train with them, hah!"

As everyone rolled their eyes at that, Lillie stared down at the floor with a thoughtful look on her face. "The Island Challenge... So this is how the people of Alola connect with the world around them."

Professor Kukui walked over and gave Lillie a gentle side-hug. "Lillie, you take care of Nova, yeah!" He flashed his assistant a grin and a thumbs up. "Until she gets used to Rotom and Altair, help out whenever you can!"

Lillie widened her eyes in surprise from the unexpected request. "O-oh, okay! I'll do my best!"

Nova threw her hands up in the air exasperatedly, completely fed up at this point. "Okay, just how many babysitters do you think I need!?"

"I think he's giving you a couple just in case you turn one or more of us into stone with that icy glare of yours."

"SHUT UP, ALTAIR!"

* * *

 **Woooooooooow, okay this chapter was a long one. *briefly glances at word count and immediately does a spit take* WHAT!? 11,500 words!? IT TOOK ME 11,500 WORDS TO WRITE NOVA WAKING UP IN THE MORNING AND THEN GOING OVER TO PROFESSOR KUKUI'S LAB!?**

 **Ohhhh boy, this book is going to be a long one...**

 **(Actually, it is. I outlined it and it's going to be a 50 chapter book XDDDD)**

 **Okie-dokie, few things:**

 **1) how hilarious and relatable is it that Nova can't seem to catch a break, and Altair just seems to catch her at all of her bad moments? XDDDDD**  
 **2) Nova's dream, whoaaaaa... Little bit of insight into her whole relationship with her dad there. Or, well, a lack thereof...**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	7. Chapter 7

Nova awkwardly walked alongside Altair as they stepped out of Professor Kukui's lab, heading back up the hill in a long, uncomfortable silence. Well, it was at least uncomfortable to Nova. Altair was fine with not saying anything, and he just continued to take the lead and guide Nova back up the hill and in the direction of both Hau'oli City and the Trainer's School.

Nova kicked at small rocks as she stared down at her feet, wracking her brain for something to say as they walked along the dusty, dirt road. She tried to think of literally anything to break the tense, awkward silence between them. "...so you're a teacher at the Trainer's School too?"

"Yeah, I started teaching there last year." Altair seemed distant about the subject as he jammed his hands into his jean pockets, and Nova internally kicked herself for that socializing fail.

Rotom poked its head out of Nova's bag, mockingly laughing at her. "Kzzzt! Epic converzzzzation fail, Nova."

"Shut it." Nova bitterly sighed as she harshly whispered that to Rotom, shoving it back into her bag. She flashed Altair's back a quick glare as she wondered if this is what it was like to be Lillie. "Seriously, is there anything you _don't_ do?"

Altair paused and turned to look at her curiously over his shoulder, and his eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. "Huh? Did you say something?"

Nova awkwardly averted her gaze and bit her lip. "Nothing..."

Altair seemed to go back to his usual self as they walked past Nova's house and began approaching a large white building with a red roof. "Anyways, before we head out for the Trainer's School, let me show you around the Pokemon Center, Nova." He gestured toward the large building as they walked up to the door, and Altair graciously held it open for her.

Nova looked displeased as she stared ahead with the most horrified look of dread on her face. "Ugh... This is about to be a really boring tour, isn't it?"

Altair let out a little laugh at Nova's facial expression, and he gestured to her to go inside. "No, of course not! Don't worry, I'll try to make things interesting."

Somehow that really wasn't reassuring to Nova, and the white-haired girl just rolled her eyes as she strode in through the front door. "Great..."

However, the second Altair stepped inside, he was blitz attacked by a little boy who looked to be no older than seven years old.

"Altair!" The young boy with the biggest face-splitting grin ran up to Altair, beaming up at the older boy as he excitedly spoke to him.

"Oh, hey kiddo!" Altair seemed to recognize the kid immediately, much to Nova's confusion. He didn't even seem to mind suddenly being bombarded by the kid's enthusiasm as Nova watched their exchange with a scrutinizing look. "How did training with Yungoos go? Did the tips I gave you help at all?"

The little boy's whole face seemed to light up brighter than the sun as he clutched the Pokeball in his hand tightly and pressed it against his heart. "Yeah, they really did! Now, when I battle with Yungoos, coming up with a strategy is so much easier!"

"That's great!" Altair's lips turned up into the biggest, most angelic smile Nova had ever seen, and she felt her mind turn to mush as she looked at the dazzling, boyish grin on his face. "I'm glad I was able to help!"

The little boy seemed to finally take notice of Nova standing beside his role model, and he tugged gently on Altair's pant leg as he gestured to the unfamiliar white-haired girl. "Altair, who's that?"

"Hmm?" Altair turned to follow the boy's line of sight, and he smiled gently when his eyes landed on Nova's awkward face. "Oh, this is Nova, my new apprentice. She just moved to town, so I'm showing her around."

The little boy appeared to have stars for eyes as he looked at Nova and beamed at her. "Wow! You're so lucky, miss!"

Nova stared off to the side in irritation as she grumbled her real feelings quietly under her breath. "I really don't see it that way..."

"Anyways, we've gotta get going." Altair reached down and ruffled the kid's hair with his big, strong hand, which seemed to envelope the little boy's whole head. "See you later at school, kiddo." He took a step forward in the direction of the front counter and walked past the kid, ushering Nova to follow him.

The little boy looked at Altair's back as he walked away, smiling and waving as he did so. "Bye, Altair! Bye, Miss Nova!"

Nova let out the breath she was holding now that she was no longer in the spotlight, and she felt herself staring oddly at Altair as she followed him up to the front of the Pokemon Center. "...you sure are popular, huh?"

"Hmm?" Altair turned to her at the sound of her voice, and he instantly shot down her question the second he processed what she had asked. "Nah, I don't really think so."

Nova stopped and let him walk ahead of her as she stared dumbfounded at his back with an irritable look on her face. "...okay, I take it back. He's not just modest, he's ridiculously dense."

"Alright, Nova! Come over here and meet Nurse Joy." Altair turned back to look at her with his usual, charming smile, facing a woman in a nurse's uniform with her pink hair tied up in two twintails.

"Hello!" Nurse Joy waved to Nova as she hesitantly approached the counter, and the nurse seemed to be just as stupidly friendly and upbeat as all of the other locals Nova had encountered since she moved here.

"Hi..." Nova awkwardly stared at Nurse Joy as she pressed her lips together into a thin line, not being very good with introductions.

Social anxiety is just the worst, is it not?

"I'm Nurse Joy." Nurse Joy smiled brightly as she delicately gave Nova a small, welcoming wave. "My family and I work in all of the Pokemon Centers across the islands, and we heal Trainers' Pokemon, as well as rent out rooms for traveling Trainers to stay in while they are on their Island Challenge."

"It's nice to meet you." Nova gave Nurse Joy a little uneasy wave back, anxiously letting her eyes wander around the huge, polished Pokemon Center.

Altair noticed Nova fall quiet, and he gently nudged her with his elbow. "Go ahead and give her Popplio's Pokeball so she can give her an once-over before we head to the Trainer's School in a bit."

"Oh, okay..." Nova's eyes snapped wide open at suddenly being addressed, and she instantly looked down and began rummaging through her bag for Popplio's Pokeball. "Um...here." She held out the Pokeball flat in the palm of her hand to Nurse Joy, who carefully accepted it from her.

"Thank you!" Nurse Joy smiled brilliantly at Nova, who practically shied away from the sight of her sheer enthusiasm. "I'll just borrow your Popplio for a few minutes and make sure she's in tip-top condition for you." She leaned over the counter slightly and pointed over at a small cafe off to the left of the Pokemon Center, gesturing Nova and Altair over in that direction. "Why don't you have a seat at the cafe while you wait?"

"That's a good idea." Altair looked over at Nova with a smile, jerking his head a little in the direction of the cafe as he ushered her to follow him. "Nova, let me introduce you to the owner of the Pokemon Center Cafe chain."

Nova awkwardly trotted behind Altair as he led her over to the cutest little cafe built into the left side of the Pokemon Center, and a gentle, older man was working the counter. His eyes naturally closed as he smiled at the two young adults coming his way.

"Why, hello there!" The older man smiled and waved to Nova, who was just as awkward with her introduction this time.

"...Hi." Nova grabbed the hem of her navy skirt with tight fists, awkwardly pulling at the fabric as she looked off to the side.

"Raul, this is Nova." Altair spoke familiarly to the older man, Raul, as if he had known him for a long time. Nova couldn't help but envy how easy Altair found it to talk to people. "She's the newbie who just moved to town."

As Nova rolled her eyes at the word 'newbie,' Raul looked over at her with a welcoming smile. "It's nice to finally meet you, Nova! The professor's told me so much about you!"

"He has?" Nova's eyes snapped wide open in shock. This was the first she had heard of this.

"Yeah! He's been real excited since the day he found out you were planning on moving here." Raul's smile never broke once as he continued to relay to Nova everything he talked about with the professor. "He's probably bragged to the whole region by now about you."

Nova held the most unbreakable poker face as she began to internally squirm from this embarrassing news. She quickly melted into a sarcastic, self-deprecating smirk as her tone dropped, and she bit out the words, "Ha... Really now? Well that's just...great."

"Anyways, what can I get you two?" Raul seemed to be oblivious to Nova's annoyance as he leaned across the counter and smiled at his two customers.

"The usual for me." Altair gave Raul a simple nod, taking a seat at one of the bar stools in front of him.

Nova looked at Altair strangely as she realized he must be a regular to the cafe, and she took a moment to look over the menu as she sat down next to him. "...Roserade Tea for me, please."

Raul snapped his fingers in the direction of his two customers sitting before him with a chipper, positive attitude. "One Komala Coffee and Roserade Tea coming right up!"

"Here you go, Raul." Altair held out enough money to cover both of their drink orders without missing a beat, not even giving Nova the chance to reach into her purse for her wallet.

Nova stared at Altair wildly for a moment before her eyes narrowed into a hard glare. "Wha...I can pay for myself, you know!"

Altair shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, not really caring that she got annoyed by his kind gesture rather than being thankful for it. "I know you can, but this is on me today."

"But..." Nova looked defeated as she held up a finger to protest, but she was cut off by Altair suddenly whirling around in his chair and leaning in dangerously close to her face.

"If it really bugs you that much, you can pay next time." Altair smirked as he pressed his forehead against hers and looked her dead in the eyes, and it took all the strength he had not to laugh at the look of panic in her eyes.

Nova pulled back and instantly turned away from him, crossing one leg over the other as she folded her arms over her chest. She turned her chin up at the ceiling as she defiantly looked away from him with her eyes shut stubbornly tight. "Whatever."

Altair looked at her huffy posture as his lip began to quiver, and he felt the urge to laugh at how adorable she was when trying so desperately to be angry. "Pfft..."

"What's so funny!?" Nova instantly dropped her angry posture and whirled around on her stool, glaring at Altair harshly, which only seemed to make him laugh harder.

Altair forced himself to stop laughing, as hard as that was, and he shot her a devilish smirk as he looked at her with a scrutinizing gaze. "Do you make it a habit to be stubborn about everything, or does having a bad attitude just come naturally to you?"

Nova's jaw dropped so hard that Altair half expected it to snap off and clatter to the floor. "What...!"

Raul's impeccable timing saved Altair from a beating as the cafe owner swooped in with both a mug of coffee and tea, and his bright, irreplaceable grin lifted the mood of the atmosphere. "Here you go! The usual for Altair, and one Roserade Tea for the new young lady. Nova, was it?"

Nova frowned as she accepted the cup of Roserade Tea from Raul, pouting a little as she brought it to her lips. "Yeah... Nova Lise."

Altair didn't add any sugar or milk to his coffee and took one large sip of it black, shooting Nova a sideways glance as he continued to drink it. "I suggest that you stop by the cafe whenever you're in a Pokemon Center, Nova. Raul's pretty knowledgeable about everything, and he can offer useful advice for you while you're on your Island Challenge."

"Although that's true, I also love to have regular customers to chat with!" Raul chortled at Altair's compliment, and he folded his arms across the counter in-between the two as he held a conversation with them, meaningfully looking over at Nova. "And it's not often that I get to see Altair bring in a girl with him."

Altair stopped drinking his coffee mid-sip, stone-faced looking over at the cafe owner as he remained as calm and collected as ever. He spoke in a low, warning tone of voice. "Raul..."

Nova seemed to miss the fact that Altair's mood had dropped, and as Raul turned and walked further down the counter to help another customer, she laughed mockingly and looked over at him with a sarcastic grin. "What, you don't bring your girlfriend in here?"

Altair looked straight ahead and showed zero emotion as he brought his coffee mug up to his lips. "Don't have one to bring."

"Seriously?" Nova scoffed as she drew her head back in surprise, narrowing her eyes at him as she snidely smirked in his direction. "Somehow I can't imagine that girls aren't crawling all over you."

"I'm just not interested." Altair calmly deadpanned, staring straight ahead without a single trace of emotion laced within his grim expression.

"In what? Girls?" Nova shot him the most infuriatingly sly smirk as her expression twisted into a mischievous one. "Oh, I get it. So you're _gay."_

"No, I'm not gay." Altair looked over and stared into her eyes with a cold, dead stare, shocking Nova into silence while simultaneously knocking the playful grin off her face. "I'm just not interested in relationships in general."

Nova finally began to understand that they were discussing a serious subject, and her mischievous demeanor seemed to melt away as she looked at him. "That's hard to believe."

Altair turned to look at her with the most confused expression on his face at the sound of her words. "Why do you say that?"

Nova held her poker face as she met his gaze, quirking a single eyebrow suspiciously at him. "You're a twenty-year-old guy not interested in dating?" She scoffed and rolled her eyes, turning back to the counter as she sipped at her tea. "Either there's something horribly wrong with you, or you've got some serious baggage that drives all girls away."

Altair fell quiet at her rather blunt observation, drawing within himself further and further as this conversation progressed. He really didn't like discussing this topic. "...or maybe I just have no desire to be in a relationship with someone." He set his mug down on the counter and stared down at it as he masked his bitter feelings with an expressionless face. "Ever think of that?"

Nova shot him a sideways glance as she studied his body language, trying to understand what was so horrible about this subject that made him act this way. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders as she propped her elbows up on the counter and held onto her cup of tea with both hands, absentmindedly looking straight ahead, just like Altair was. "Well, I guess I can understand that."

Altair scoffed derisively at Nova's response, repeating her own words back to her. "Now _there's_ something that's hard to believe."

"What?" Nova furrowed her brow as she turned to scrutinize Altair's oddly smug face, crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly. "What's so hard to believe about that?"

Altair's grim mood seemed to dissolve right away as he turned and smirked at Nova, as if it were never there to start with. "You're a nineteen-year-old girl who sympathizes with a guy who doesn't want a relationship. What part of that _isn't_ hard to believe?"

Now it was Nova's turn to fall quiet.

Nova opened her mouth to speak, but when no words came out, she awkwardly stared down at her cup of tea as she absentmindedly stirred it over and over again. "Well, if you moved around as much as I do, you'd understand just how pointless it is to get close to people that you only just leave in the end." Her quiet voice was almost inaudible as her eyes remained fixated on the counter.

"I see." Altair frowned as he looked at her slumped posture, feeling the need to cheer her up all of a sudden. He was beginning to understand the reasons behind her distant and detached attitude even more. "So...is that what you're doing with me? Keeping me at an arm's length so you don't get hurt?"

Nova smirked as she kept her eyes glued down at her teacup on the counter. "No, I just really don't like you." She found herself naturally laughing as her frown shattered into a million tiny pieces, replaced by a wonderfully sarcastic smile. "Don't flatter yourself."

Altair comically clutched his heart and chuckled along with her, admiring her truly stunning laugh. It almost sounded like bell chimes. "Haha, harsh! I guess I asked for that one..."

Raul walked up to the two laughing customers sitting at the counter, having finished up taking the orders of the other customers waiting in line. "So, Nova, how are you liking Alola so far?" He smiled broadly to her, brimming with genuine friendliness.

Nova's smile seemed to vanish into thin air as her regular distant, cold demeanor took over. She put her walls back up as she casually sipped at her tea. "It's okay, I guess..."

Raul wasn't fazed by her distant response as he continued to grin brightly. "Well, you'll learn to love it in time, no worries! So, where are you two headed after this?"

"To the Trainer's School." Altair cut in, answering the cafe owner's question. "Nova has some training to do before she can get started on her Island Challenge."

Raul chortled as he began to reminisce about the past. "Ah, seems like only yesterday that you were doing that same thing yourself!"

Altair scoffed a little and shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Tell me about it..."

Raul refilled Altair's coffee as he made conversation. "How's that sister of yours doing, by the way?"

"Oh, Pandora?" Altair's attention was immediately captured at the mention of his kid sister he adored oh so much. "She's doing great! Just the other day, she did the cutest thing..."

Nurse Joy leaned over the counter and looked over at Nova from across the floor as she called out to her. "Oh, miss Nova? Your Popplio is ready to be picked up now."

"Hmm?" Nova looked over at the sound of her name being called, and she immediately hopped up from her stool and began to walk over to Nurse Joy. "Oh, thank you."

"No problem!" Nurse Joy beamed at her sincerely as she delicately placed Popplio's Pokeball in the white-haired girl's hand. "Come back any time you need to heal your Pokemon, okay?"

Nova flashed her an awkward smile and nodded her head before placing Popplio's Pokeball back in her bag. "I will. Thanks." She turned to walk back to the cafe and found Altair and Raul in mid conversation, and she hesitantly tapped on Altair's shoulder to gain his attention. "Hey, uh... Should we get going now?"

Altair turned to face her, and he almost laughed as he saw her face redden slightly from the lack of space between their bodies. A smug little smirk encompassed his whole face as he crossed his arms and looked at her. "Oh, what's this? Eager to have me really start acting like your teacher and begin training you?"

Nova was caught off guard by his sudden quip, and her wide eyes stared at him wildly. "What? No...!" Her gaze fell into a glare as she stubbornly folded her arms and turned away from Altair in a huff. "I'm just eager to get this over with and have you out of my life!"

"So cold!" Altair laughed and pretended to be wounded by her biting wit, and he stood up and ruffled her hair affectionately. "Well played, lady of the icy mask."

Nova scowled at him as she smoothed out her hair in annoyance. "Once Melemele Island is over and done with, we part ways and never see each other again."

Altair paused at her words, appearing to be a little speechless as he turned to face her directly. "Well... I guess that's true." He wore an unbalanced smile as he grabbed at the back of his neck, and he stared into her eyes endearingly. "But is that really what you want?"

Nova looked at him strangely and quirked an eyebrow, crossing her arms even tighter as she turned her chin away from him. "Yes, that's really what I want."

Altair let out the sharp breath he was holding as she bumped into him with her shoulder on her way out, and he found himself following her out of the Pokemon Center with an uneasy expression. "...You know, I'm really not a bad guy to have as a friend once you get to know me."

"Who said anything about wanting you to be my friend?" Nova stormed out of the front door with a bitter expression on her face, not even bothering to hold it open for Altair as she stepped outside.

Altair let out a tired sigh as he quickly jogged to catch up to her. "Hey, I'm just saying...OUCH!" He stumbled back when the door caught him right in the face, and he pinched the bridge of his nose as he pushed the door back open and walked outside with a pained look on his face.

Lillie's eyes snapped wide open when she spotted the two step outside of the Pokemon Center, and she quickly waved to them both. "Oh, Nova, Altair...!"

"Hey, Lillie." Altair made sure to wave to her as he continued to massage his throbbing nose and grimaced.

"The professor asked me to tag along with you two to the Trainer's School." Lillie's tiny amount of confidence seemed to falter, and she nervously met the eyes of the two in front of her. "If you don't mind, of course..."

"The more the merrier!" Altair had recovered from the door slam in no time, and he beamed at Lillie as he brushed past Nova and began to walk over to the Trainer's School. "Alright, girls. Let's head over next door to the school."

Nova grumbled incoherent curses to herself as she followed Altair's lead, and Lillie shot her a strange look all the way. Rotom kept making comments about the weather, and Nova was continuously shoving it further and further into her bag to muffle its snarky comments.

The Trainer's School was a huge, massive building encircled by a large fence and grassy areas occupied by several wild Pokemon. The school yard was filled with screaming children chasing each other and laughing as they battled under the shade of the palm trees. The colossal building behind them was deep brown in color, towering above the ground three floors. Nova stood at the front gate in awe at the beautiful place, wondering if this island-like landscape and architecture was normal throughout the whole region. If this was just what the Trainer's School looked like, she couldn't even imagine the rest of the four islands.

As soon as Nova set one foot inside the school yard, she caught sight of the back of her one and only cousin. "Kukui...!"

Professor Kukui was chatting with an unfamiliar woman his age, and he quickly turned around at the sound of Nova's voice, instantly smiling and waving hello to her. "Hey there, Nova! I must've passed you three somehow, yeah?"

Nova never looked more confused in her life as she tripped over her words, pointing a shaky finger at her cousin as she kept looking back and forth between Professor Kukui and the gate behind her. "Wha... What? But you were just... How...!?"

Professor Kukui laughed at the astounded Nova before quickly moving on, comprehensively clapping his hands together. "Anyways, welcome to the Trainer's School: the place to learn how to be a Pokemon Trainer!"

Nova shook her head briefly to snap herself out of it, and as she looked over the incredible landscape once more, she voiced her thoughts aloud this time. "Wow... This place is huge."

The dark-haired woman wearing thin-framed glasses smiled from where she stood next to the professor. "Professor Kukui! Is this the child you told me about?" She then had a strange look come across her face as she took in Nova's appearance. "Oh, well, I suppose she does look a little too old to be a child..."

A vein bulged from Nova's forehead as her face reddened in anger, and then threw her closed fists down to her sides. "Probably because I'm _not_ one!"

Altair had to bite down on his lip and look down at the ground to keep himself from openly laughing. "Pfft..."

Nova whirled around and smacked his arm as she redirected her anger towards him. "Shut up!"

As Altair laughed and massaged his sore arm, Professor Kukui grinned as he directed the woman's attention to Nova. "Yeah, this is her alright! Put her through the wringer, Teach!"

Altair shoved his hands in his pockets, relaxing his posture as he looked down at the girl beside him. "Time for you to get started, Nova."

A look of panic flashed across her face as Nova wildly looked at Altair. "Get started on what!?"

Professor Kukui held out his hand and stuck up four of his fingers with a giddy grin on his face. "Four trainers! You've got to beat four Pokemon Trainers here at the school, Nova! The experience will surely help you and your Pokemon grow stronger, yeah!"

All of the blood drained from Nova's face as she stared at her cousin in horror. "W-what...! I have to battle four Trainers and win right off the bat!?"

Nova jerked when she felt a hand suddenly on her shoulder, and a sense of calm washed over her the second she felt the warmth of that hand spread to her fast-beating heart. She looked up and to her right, and she sharply gasped when she caught a look at the genuinely sincere look in Altair's eyes.

"Don't worry, Nova. I'll stick with you through the whole thing." Altair's charming smile was so soothing and sincere that it threw Nova off balance, and she felt her stomach do flips. "I did promise I was going to help you learn the ropes, didn't I?"

Nova's heart sank as she disappointingly slumped her impeccably straight posture. "Somehow that just makes me feel even worse about the whole situation..."

Rotom poked its head out of Nova's bag again. "Canzzzz you actually get any more bitter thanzzz you already arezzz, Nova?" It quickly let out a distressed "KZZZTT!" when Nova scowled at it and shoved it bag into her bag, zipping it shut tight.

The lady teacher smiled kindly as she looked at Nova, and she began pointing to both the school yard and building entrance as she spoke. "The Trainers who will take part in this lesson may be inside or outside the school. And if you visit the classrooms, you might learn a few things." She grinned and clapped her hands together. "Alright, let the lesson begin!"

Professor Kukui leaned over to Nova and nudged her arm with his elbow. "She may not look all that tough, but that teach trains her kids right! After all, she mentored Altair when he was still just a kid starting out!"

Nova widened her eyes at that, staring at her cousin in shock. "Really?"

Altair smiled awkwardly as he ran a hand through his hair. "Well, yeah. It's not like I just naturally started out as a good Trainer." His eyes met hers as his tone dropped to a very sincere one. "Everyone has to start somewhere."

Nova fell quiet and drew within herself as she thoughtfully stared down at the ground. "Everyone has to start somewhere, huh...?"

Professor Kukui clapped Altair on the back with full force, and Nova almost fell over when she saw that he didn't even flinch. Again. "Alright you two, go get started, yeah! Have fun!"

Nova just let out a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes, stiffening her rigid shoulders as she folded her arms across her chest. "No promises..."

Altair had already walked ahead a ways, and he waved Nova over to where he stood underneath a palm tree. "Nova, come here a sec."

Nova frowned with a sarcastic look on her face as she strode over to him, and she quirked a skeptical eyebrow as she kept her arms locked in place across her chest. "What, are you going to lecture me on my bad attitude now?"

Altair just simply shook his head no with an air of nonchalance around him. "No, I've already accepted the fact that your bad attitude is just a permanent part of you that will never change."

Nova's jaw fell hard and fast as a look of frustrated annoyance came across her face. "Hey...!"

Altair scoffed under his breath at the face she pulled, and he smirked at her with a glint of deviousness in his eyes as he stood in a confident stance with his arms crossed. "What I pulled you over for was your first lesson."

Any trace of anger on Nova's face immediately melted away, followed by a confused expression. "My first lesson?"

A wry smile came across Altair's face as he skeptically looked at her, drawing his head back a little. "What, you thought I'd just let you blindly walk into your Trainer School challenge with no help at all?"

Nova immediately opened her mouth to say something snappy, but she awkwardly closed it and looked off at the ground when she realized he was right. "Well..."

Altair's whole face lit up like the sun as he slowly broke out into the most wonderful laugh, and Nova's face grew red as she angrily glared off to the side. "Haha, don't worry! I'm not going to leave you in the dust." He regained his composure as a serious look came across his face, and Altair placed his hands together flat and pointed to Nova with them. "Alright, so I've seen you battle."

Nova's breath got caught in her throat as she could have sworn her face started to turn blue. "Urk..."

And that was when Altair said something completely unexpected.

"...and I have to say, you've actually got a natural knack for it." Altair cracked a small grin, looking down into her eyes.

Nova was so surprised that she leaned forward to look at him more closely with the most dumbfounded look on her face. "What? You're kidding, right? I lost both times I've battled so far."

Altair shrugged his shoulders as he began to pace around her in circles. "Maybe so, but your technique was actually pretty good. You've got the idea of how to battle down; you just need to learn a few things about Pokemon before you try battling again."

Nova frowned, crossed her arms, and kept her eyes on him as she watched Altair circle around her. "Like what?"

Altair suddenly appeared behind Nova's shoulder as he spoke, causing the white-haired girl to jump a little. "Well, Pokemon battling is all about strategy." He drew back and circled around to her front, counting a list of things off his fingers as he continued to pace in circles around her. "Everything is a factor in what your outcome will be; your Pokemon's type, your opponent's type, what moves they each know, the types of those moves, stat changes..."

Nova felt dizzy just thinking about all of these facts bouncing off the walls inside of her head. "...okay, you're making this all sound really complicated."

Altair sheepishly grinned as he grabbed the back of his neck. "Haha, sorry, sorry! Come on. Come to my classroom and sit in on my lesson with me, and then we'll get started on the Trainer's School challenge." He smiled excitedly in Nova's direction as he ushered her toward the front door. "How does that sound?"

Nova stared ahead blankly and deadpanned, "Miserable."

Altair let out a loud laugh at her cynical bitterness as they walked together side-by-side. "Haha, come on, Nova!"

Nova sighed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever... Let's just go already."

Altair smirked at her walking beside him with a knowing look on his face. "I think you'll really like it." He grinned mischievously to himself as he dug his hands into his pockets again and swiftly walked ahead of her. "The kids know you're coming too, and they're excited to meet you."

A look of panic flashed before Nova's eyes as she stared wildly at Altair's back. "Wait, what!? What did you say?" She groaned in annoyance and jogged to catch up to the boy who was completely ignoring her. She gasped and looked offended when he started to laugh and run away from her, and she glared and picked up her speed as she called after him. "Altair! ALTAIR!"

* * *

Altair ditched the leather jacket and swung it over his arm as he strode into the classroom, now just wearing his light grey button-down that was left open haphazardly at the neck with the darker grey vest over top. Nova was trailing behind him, panting to catch her breath, but she froze at the door and hovered awkwardly as Altair just walked right into the classroom filled with eight to eleven-year-olds. "Hey, guys! How is everyone doing today?"

"Mr. Knight!" The whole class roared with excitement as the all gasped at their teacher's sudden entrance, and they all had an intensely awe-struck look on their faces at the sight of the man.

One little girl with blonde twintails looked sad as she slumped down in her chair. "We heard you're taking a couple weeks off from school... Is that true?"

"Are you leaving us?" The little boy next to her panicked, expressing his worry through the distressed look on his face.

Altair held up his hands defensively after he threw his jacket onto the back of his chair. "Whoa, okay. Settle down, everyone." He frowned and waited for the excited and panicked chatter to come to a complete stop, locking eyes with his students as a sudden silence fell over the room. All it took to silence a room of screaming children were his eyes. "Yes, I am taking a few weeks off, but I'll be back to teaching you guys before you know it. Trust me!" His usual grin was back again as he clapped his hands together. "Now, go ahead and take a seat, and get out your notebooks!"

The little blonde girl with twintails caught sight of a shadow in the doorway at the front of the room, and she shyly smiled as she looked back to her teacher. "Um... Mr. Knight?"

"Yes, Terra?" Altair looked over at his student and ushered her to go ahead and say what it was she had to say.

The little girl, Terra, grinned girlishly as she looked back to the door again. "Who's the pretty girl in the doorway?"

Nova's eyes widened in panic from being called out so suddenly, and she shied away from the door further when all of the students instantly looked her way.

Altair looked at Nova with the warmest, genuine smile, and he held his hand out to her as he spoke. "Class, this is Nova. She's the new Trainer just starting out that I was telling you guys about yesterday." He told Nova to come in with the look in his eyes, and she slowly crept into the classroom and stood right next to him. "Everyone, say hello to our guest!"

"Hi, Miss Nova!" The whole class cheered, bombarding her with their innocent, child-like smiles.

Nova felt her heartbeat quicken nervously as a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. "H-hi..."

Altair rested his hand on Nova's shoulder and he gave her a little push forward. "Nova, go ahead and have a seat with the students."

Nova was quick to glare at Altair intensely after she had glanced at the comically small desks that were clearly meant for children. "You've _got_ to be joking."

Altair didn't even break under her terrifying scowl, and he held her eyes perfectly as he smirked with an air of smugness around him. "Nope. Dead serious."

Nova looked over at all the eager children staring at her with stars for eyes, and she traced her eyes back to Altair as she pouted slightly with a pathetic look on her face. "Altair..."

The little blonde girl named Terra instantly shot up and waved her hand to Nova excitedly. "Oh, oh, you can sit next to me!"

Nova took in one deep breath and then sighed, awkwardly looking at the eager little girl as she walked down the aisle of children sitting at their desks. "Uh...thanks." She struggled to sit down in her own, finding the chair and desk to be ridiculously small. Nova had to awkwardly shift her body back and forth just to fit in the chair, and she eventually just gave up and sat in her tiny chair sideways with her legs hanging off the side. She still sat up straight with proper posture despite everything.

Terra rested her head in her hands as she looked over at the older girl with a transfixed look of awe in her eyes. "So you're a new Pokemon Trainer?"

Nova let out the breath she was holding as she pushed her desk forward a little so it would no longer be crushing her lungs. "Sure looks that way."

"That's so cool!" Terra gushed, beaming at Nova brightly.

A little boy on the opposite side of Nova with bright green eyes and dark brown hair leaned over to grin at her excitedly. "You're so lucky Mr. Knight is teaching you! He's really nice and good at explaining things."

"Is that so?" Nova frowned, bitterly crossing her arms as she turned to face the front. She had to hold back from gasping in shock from what she saw up ahead in order not to draw attention to herself.

"Okay guys, settle down." Altair, who was now the perfect embodiment of a teacher rather than an annoying guy she had hit in the face with a door just a few days prior, stood proud and tall at the front of the classroom. He had that stupid charming smile on his face as usual, but he seemed to be more relaxed now; in his own environment, even. "Just for today, in honor of our new guest, today's class will be on Trainer basics." He held out his hand to point at Nova with the most brilliant smile she had ever seen in her entire life.

As Nova drew in a sharp breath from the look of intensity in his eyes, the whole class cheered.

Altair leaned up against the front of his desk, pulling at his open shirt collar for a moment before clapping his hands together comprehensively. "First thing's first, let's discuss type match ups. Can anyone tell me what that is?"

The boy sitting behind Nova rose his hand, and he wore a giddy look on his face when Altair called on him to speak. "It's when a Pokemon's type is either weak, strong, neutral, or unaffected by another one."

"That's right!" Altair looked so amazingly happy and natural when he snapped and pointed to the kid who just answered the question, and Nova was stunned into silence by his fantastic smile. "So, class, the three basic types of starter Pokemon are fire, water, and grass." He turned around and grabbed a piece of chalk as he headed over toward the chalkboard behind his desk, and Altair began scribbling across it wildly at an incredible speed, drawing amazingly elaborate diagrams with great artistic skill. "Fire is strong against grass, but is weak against water. Water is strong against fire, but weak against grass. And then grass is strong against water, but weak against fire."

A brunette girl across the room from Nova rose her hand with a curious look on her face, but she instantly smiled when Altair turned to call on her. "Mr. Knight, there are more than just those three types though, right?"

"That is correct." Altair snapped and pointed to the girl, who only grinned brighter at the charming smile on Altair's face. "Overall, there are eighteen types of Pokemon." He paused and grinned wryly to himself as he locked eyes with Nova in the room. "Now, true or false: one Pokemon can have multiple types. Nova?"

Nova snapped out of her trance as she stared at Altair in horror as her anxiety rang throughout her entire body. "M-me?"

"Yes, you." Altair smirked, crossing his arms over his chest as he confidently leaned up against the blackboard. "Go ahead and give the question your best shot."

It was like he was only his snarky self to her, and her alone. Although he could be snarky, though, he wasn't arrogant; he wasn't rubbing the question in her face. He was just giving her a chance to learn something too.

Nova nervously bit her lip, reaching up to twirl a strand of her hair around her fingers. "...it's true, isn't it?"

Altair stared at her with his usual poker face, when suddenly... His lips slowly stretched up into a big, bright smile. "That is correct." Nova let out a sigh of relief as Altair locked his intense gaze on her, staring her down with a challenging look flickering in his eyes. "And up to how many different types can a Pokemon have?"

Nova caught sight of the taunting look reflected in his deep, midnight-colored eyes, and she found herself slowly beginning to smirk back as her confidence began to build up once again. "Two, right?"

Her heart was beating a mile a minute. She had barely known him for a day, and she already knew that the one word Altair could be defined as was intensity. He always had this intense look in his eyes whenever he locked those enchantingly alluring, midnight-purple eyes on anyone, because he gazed at them like they were not just the only person in the world, but the most important thing in the entire universe. He had this air of confidence around him that could stop the world from rotating, but he wasn't arrogant. Snarky, yes, but not self-absorbed. Incredibly smart, but didn't have a god complex. Amazingly talented, but modest about it. Just...

Who _was_ this guy...?

"Good job, Nova." Altair stood back up straight again as he gave her a slight nod, and he turned to direct his attention to the whole class once again. "Alright, so with the ability to have up to two Pokemon types, how strengths and weaknesses work here is..."

Terra leaned over to the white-haired girl beside her, whispering harshly in her direction. "Psst, Nova!"

Nova looked over at the girl in alarm from suddenly being called out to, and she narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Huh? What is it?"

Terra had a mischievous look on her face as she grinned at Nova. "Are you and Mr. Knight dating!?"

Nova was quick to harden her eyes into a glare as she instinctively pulled her head back from Terra. "Definitely not."

Terra seemed to be really shocked by that as she stared at Nova slack-jawed. "What, seriously? You're not?"

Nova grew even more irritated by that as she glared at the little girl in confusion. "No, of course not! Why would you think that?"

Terra seemed to not be fazed by the angry look on Nova's face at all as her innocent expression was accompanied by a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "Because we've never seen him with a girl before."

Nova was half surprised, half not surprised to hear this. She curiously looked at the girl with the strangest look in her eyes. "You haven't?"

Terra frowned and absentmindedly kicked at the floor with her Mary Janes. "Nope. It's kind of sad..."

Nova awkwardly sat back in her chair as she rested her head in one of her hands, propping her elbow up on her desk. Clearly, Altair wasn't bluffing about not being interested in relationships. "Why do you guys care so much if he's in a relationship?"

Terra shrugged her shoulders with a childlike look of nonchalance. "Well, because he's so nice and helps us out all the time, we just want to see him have a happy ending too..."

Nova felt like her heart had just been run through with a knife by the girl's innocent wish, and she somberly stared down at her desk as a depressing mood washed over her. "Well, I hate to break it to you kid, but his happy ending just is not with me..."

"Nova, do you have something you want to share with the class?"

Nova shut her eyes tight as a shiver of dread ran through every inch of her body, and she felt the blood drain from her face as she slowly turned around to face the amazingly smug grin on Altair's face at the front of the classroom.

Altair paused his lecture the moment he caught sight of Nova whispering to one of his students, and although he was absolutely sure that Nova was not the one who initiated conversation, he was still going to mess with her for it. He leaned up against the chalkboard with an air of nonchalance, looking over at Nova curiously with a sarcastic grin. "Well, Nova?"

Nova bit down on her lip as she awkwardly stared at him with a look of Deerling in front of headlights. "No, it was nothi..."

"She was just telling us how cute she thinks you are." Terra innocently beamed at her teacher, cutting Nova off in the middle of her sentence.

Nova's eyes widened in horror as the whole class erupted into a huge burst of laugher. "What!? I was not!"

"Oh, is that so?" Altair held his breath in order to not laugh along with his students, and he smirked over at Nova with unwavering confidence. "I'm flattered, but next time, please save that sort of commentary for _after_ class."

Nova's whole face was redder than a tomato as she slowly sank down into her chair further and further. "I told you, I wasn't..."

"Moving on." Altair cut her off and tried not to laugh at the look of dumbfounded shock on Nova's face. He smiled wryly to himself as he faced his class and resumed the lecture. "Moves have types, just like Pokemon. If you use a move that's the same type as your Pokemon, it will have a much stronger impact in battle. Certain moves can also leave a Pokemon with a status effect." Altair rested his hips against the edge of the desk with his arms neatly folded over his chest. "For example, the move 'yawn' will cause the foe Pokemon to become drowsy and fall asleep. Can anyone list the six types of status effects?"

A little boy with blonde hair and grey eyes eagerly rose his hand and waved it back and forth until his teacher laughed and called on him. "Falling asleep, paralysis, poisoning, getting burned, being frozen, and confusion."

"Nice job, Steven." Altair smiled endearingly at the kid, then flicked his eyes over to a certain white-haired girl who was still struggling to fit herself in the tiny desk meant for a small child. "Now, when your Pokemon sustains one of these status effects, what happens? Nova?"

"Me?" Nova pointed to herself in disbelief, and she waffled a little when she met Altair's intense, unwavering gaze. "Uh... Well, if they fall asleep, they miss out on attacking for a few turns until they wake up." She bit her lip and twirled her hair on her finger as she wracked her brain for whatever common sense and prior knowledge on Pokemon she had stored in there. "When they're paralyzed or frozen, they can't move. When poisoned or burned, they will be afflicted by those wounds and gradually lose HP." She looked up from her desk and stared directly into Altair's eyes; something that was not easy for anyone to do, including herself. "And being confused can result in the Pokemon's move missing, and them getting hurt in the process."

Altair's blank, focused expression twitched into the most ecstatic grin as he paid his undivided attention to the white-haired beauty in the room. "Wow, I'm impressed." He tilted his head to the side and smiled sweetly at her. "See, I told you you've got a knack for this."

Nova felt her neck flush as she stared down at the floor beside her, feeling her brain start to fry from the amazingly alluring expression on Altair's face. "I-I... Uh..."

A little red-haired girl next to Nova gently nudged her arm with a look of concern. "Miss Nova, why's your face all red?"

Nova's temper snapped as she slammed her fists down on her desk and glared up at the ceiling. "BECAUSE IT'S LIKE A THOUSAND DEGREES IN HERE, THAT'S WHY!"

The whole class was quick to erupt into a burst of uncontrollable laughter at the silly girl's antics.

Nova had to admit, Altair was a pretty good teacher. It was entrancing seeing him interact with the whole class, making sure to answer all of their questions, and allow each and every student to participate in the lesson if they so desired. He would naturally smile and laugh along with the students as he excitedly scribbled diagrams and explanations on the chalkboard, and Nova felt her stomach unsettlingly buzzing with a strange, unfamiliar warm feeling as she watched Altair in his own element. Altair had so much to teach her, and each subject was carefully explained with expert wording. It wasn't hard for Nova to understand what Altair was talking about when he moved to the subjects of held items or Pokemon abilities. And although she was not too excited about the idea of attending the Trainer's School for a day and sitting in on one of Altair's classes, as the class went on, she found herself slowly leaning in more and more with her head in her hands, hanging on every word Altair spoke. That kid was right; Altair was a pretty good teacher.

Not that she would ever say that to his face.

There was something about him that Nova just couldn't understand. He was smart, funny, friendly... Champion of a region, held a job as an amazing teacher at the school... He appeared to get along with anyone he ever met, whether it was someone he had known for years, or a stranger he met two minutes ago; he treated them both with the same level of respect and friendliness. He was cunning, charming, and albeit a little cute...

But deep within his alluring, midnight-purple eyes... Nova saw something she imagined that most people who looked into them would miss.

Sadness.

And the only reason she saw it was because she had the same thing locked behind her own eyes.

"Alright, class. That's it for today." Altair let out a tired chuckle when a roar of disappointment washed over the whole class of eager students. "One of the other teachers will be taking my class over for the next few weeks." His unbalanced smile only grew more and more sad when the class let out a long, "aww..." of disappointment, both touched by how much they adored him and sad that he had to go. "I know, I'll miss you guys too." That uneasy look upturned into a bright grin, and he clapped his hands together excitedly as he looked upon them. "But don't worry, I'm not leaving for good. As soon as I get back, I'll be right here ready to start teaching you kids again!"

One of the boys in the class whined in disappointment, frowning sadly as he looked up at his teacher. "Mr. Knight, where are you going?"

Altair looked over at Nova and laughed when he saw her sink into her chair and cover her face with her hands. "Well, I'll be accompanying Nova on the first part of her Island Challenge."

Terra's eyes suddenly turned into large red hearts as she leaned forward so far that she was practically hanging off the edge of her seat. "Ooooooh! But why?"

Altair leaned back against the wall casually as he shot her a smug grin. "Because she's basically hopeless without me."

Nova reacted exactly how Altair expected her to, harshly glaring at him with the most terrifying look on her face. "Hey! That's not true at all, and you know it!"

"HAHAHAHAH!"

Altair smiled and chuckled quietly under his breath as the class's roaring laughter quieted down, and as the school bell chimed and dismissed the class, he reached over and grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and waved good-bye to the students filing out of the classroom. "Okay guys, I'll see you in a few weeks!"

Terra waved with a sad smile on her face as she walked out of the classroom. "Bye, Mr. Knight! We'll miss you!"

One of the boys waved good-bye as well with a stellar grin on his face. "Come back soon!"

Altair wore an unbalanced smile as he watched every last one of his students file out of the room. "I will, I promise."

Nova stood and walked over to him, unable to understand why she felt so sad just by seeing how uneasy Altair looked at watching his students leave, knowing he wouldn't be able to see them for a while, or enjoy teaching for the time being. She felt her hand begin to rise from where she stood behind him, and she hovered her open palm over his back for a moment, internally debating back and forth with herself whether she would place it on his back in comfort.

But as soon as Nova pulled back her hand and looked down at the floor awkwardly, a blur of something dashed into the classroom at a ridiculously incredible speed.

"Altair! Altair!" Pandora Knight had a stupidly giddy grin on her face as she ran straight for her older brother with open arms, Stufful running behind her on the tile floors as he struggled to keep up with her.

The unbalanced look on Altair's face immediately slid away at the sight of his little sister, and he had the biggest face-splitting grin as he watched her barrel towards him. "Panda Bear!"

Nova's brow furrowed as she stared at the two very strangely. "Panda Bear...?"

"Oof!" Altair laughed as Pandora slammed into him at full force, causing him to stagger ever so slightly. "Careful, kiddo! You really surprised me there."

Pandora grinned sheepishly as her brother lifted her up into his arms and smirked wryly at her. "Sorry! I just wanted to give you a hug before you leave."

Altair wore an unbalanced smile as he looked at his sister's sparkling eyes. "I'll miss you too, Pandora." He pressed his forehead against hers, smiling brightly at her as he spoke. "But I'm still going to call you every day just to talk, don't forget that!"

"Really?" Pandora's whole face lit up at her brother's words.

"Of course!" Altair chuckled and deviously looked into her eyes. "I'm going to call you and talk your ear off so much that you're going to get sick of me!"

Pandora sweetly giggled at her brother's teasing, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her face against his cheek. "Hehe! I'd never get sick of you, Altair!"

Nova felt like an awkward wallflower who was intruding on something she shouldn't be, and she awkwardly averted her gaze and began quietly slinking away.

Altair heard her almost inaudible footsteps from behind him, and he turned to face her with Pandora still in his arms. "Hey, Nova... I'd like you to meet my little sister. This is Pandora."

Nova froze in her attempt to back up out of the classroom, and she blinked at Altair and the little girl owlishly. "Pandora? Wait, _this_ is your sister?" She pointed to Pandora as that fact dawned on her, unable to help herself from noticing the similarities between them. Those two were definitely related, now that she thought about it.

Something seemed to dawn on Pandora as she slowly nodded her head at Nova. "Ohhh, so _you're_ the lost cause my brother was talking about!"

Nova dropped her jaw and was quick to accusingly look at Altair, who looked just as surprised as she was at Pandora's pretty fearless word choice. "Lost cause!?"

Pandora lightly shut her eyes as she nodded her head. "Yeah, he said you're pretty clumsy, so he has to watch you on your challenge so you don't screw up."

Nova felt as if she had just been smacked across the face with a two by four. "Wha...!"

Altair never looked more embarrassed and awkward in his life as he waffled to shut his little sister up. "Ahah hah... That's enough of that, Pandora..."

"My class is over for the day." Pandora seemed completely oblivious to the chaos she had just caused, innocently looking at Altair. "Can I go play out in the school yard for a bit before I go home?"

Altair hummed as that question went through his mind. "As long as you keep Stufful with you at all times and don't push yourself, I don't mind if you stay a while longer." He looked at his sister with an unusually serious look on his face, conveying the urgency of the situation to her. "Just make sure you don't keep Mom waiting too long, okay? She'll get worried."

Pandora eagerly nodded her head as she hugged her brother tight around the neck once more. "Okay, Altair! I promise!"

Altair smiled despite himself as he set her down on the ground, and he gave her back a little push in the direction of the door. "Alright, go have fun." He waved good-bye to her as he called out. "I love you!"

Pandora stopped at the doorway and turned to grin at her brother one last time. "I love you too, Altair! Bye!"

"She's really... Something." Nova watched the seemingly ill girl bound out of the room with limitless energy, amazed by the girl's stamina. This was the little girl Altair had said was born sickly...?

"Isn't she?" Altair proudly smiled as he rested his hands on his waist, staring out the door in which his sister had left through with Stufful. "I don't know what I'd do without her."

Nova followed his gaze to the empty doorway, which matched the level of emptiness within her heart. "Can't say I know what that's like..."

* * *

"So, Nova. How do you feel about battling four Trainers now?" Altair asked calmly with his hands shoved into his jean pockets as he walked out the front door to the school, looking over at the white-haired beauty walking down the steps beside him.

Nova awkwardly smiled down at the floor as she twisted her hair around her finger. "Surprisingly...better, actually."

Altair's face instantly lit up with a grin. "See? I told you, you've got a natural knack for this." He wryly looked over at her as they reached the ground. "All you needed was some more information about Pokemon to back you up."

Nova reached up and grabbed the back of her neck as she kicked at the ground. "I make no promises that I'll win, but I think I've got a better idea on how to go about battling now." She rose her brow in anticipation as she eagerly looked to Altair. "So, where do I start with this Trainer School challenge?"

Altair was floored by this girl's level of impatience, and he narrowed his eyes at her as a smile found its way to his lips. "What, you thought that was it? That sitting in on one of my classes was all I was going to do to teach you how to be a Trainer?"

Nova's eagerness melted away as her hands fell down to her sides, and she stared at Altair like an open-mouthed Magikarp. "...you mean it's not?"

Altair shook his head side to side in amazement at this girl's level of ambition. "Nova, did you forget that I'm sticking with you for all of Melemele Island?

Nova had a bitter look on her face as she folded her arms tightly and gritted her teeth as she harshly whispered under her breath. "I'm _trying_ to block it out..."

Altair let out a breathy laugh at the sight of Nova scowling off to the side at nothing in particular, and he took a step closer as he looked down at her face. "Hate to break it to you, but... You're stuck with me for at least another week or two."

Nova threw her head back and rolled her eyes sarcastically as she flung her arms up into their air. "Oh, lucky me! I get to be the famous champion Altair Knight's loser apprentice!" She wore the biggest Lillipup eyes as she puckered her lips and rested her intertwined hands under her chin, looking up at Altair doe-eyed. "I'm so excited to be under your wing and study your every waking move! I want to be just like you, Altair!" Whatever good mood she was in earlier had now disappeared, and she was back to being in her bitter, sarcastic attitude.

Altair dejectedly stared at her, crestfallen and taken aback by her attitude a little. "Hey, there's no need to be so sarcastic..."

Nova's glare was back on her face in no time as she menacingly scowled at Altair, completely forgetting about the good time she had in his classroom just minutes ago. "Well, I'm sorry, but sarcasm is all you're going to get from me. I'm not exactly thrilled about this whole arrangement."

Altair seemed to grow annoyed by her unwillingness and bitter sarcasm, crossing his arms as he rose an eyebrow. "And why is that, exactly?"

Nova stared at him in shock at the one-eighty his mood just did, never having seen him get remotely frustrated or annoyed by anything before, let alone angry. "What?"

Altair was careful not to lose his temper as he approached her, leaving no space between their bodies as he looked straight down into her frightened eyes. "You're so hostile and distant towards me, and you're completely against the idea of having me around, but I've never actually asked why." He stared directly into Nova's sunset-orange eyes as she helplessly looked back up into his midnight-colored ones. "So, I'm asking. Why do you hate being around me so much?"

Nova's eyes flickered down in shame as she took a step back from Altair, rubbing her arm as she stared at the grassy floor. "Well, if everyone in your life had so little faith in you that they felt it was necessary to send the literal definition of perfection your way in order to help you actually be good at something for once in your life, you'd be pretty pissed too."

Altair's annoyance with her was slapped right off his face as he now wore a look of guilt, and his eyes grew heavy with awkwardness and shame. "Nova, I..."

Nova turned to the side and held up her hand to silence him. "Just save it. I don't care. I don't need your help, either."

Altair sighed as he took another step closer to her, not deterred by the fact that she was keeping her back to him. "Look, I don't think of you as some charity case, Nova."

"Really?" Nova's bitterly sarcastic tone didn't miss Altair for a second, even though he couldn't see her facial expression. "You don't?"

"Yes, really." Altair took step after step until he was directly behind her, and he watched as his shadow on the ground completely enveloped hers. "Look, I know that we only met because the professor asked me to help you..." His voice grew quiet, and it was barely more than a hushed whisper as his words reached Nova's ears. "But even if he didn't, I still would have volunteered to mentor you anyways."

"What?" Nova whirled around so fast that she nearly crashed into his broad chest, and she staggered back and looked up at him with the most confused look on her face. "You must be joking..." She warily drew her head back as she let out a self-depreciating laugh. "No one is that nice..."

"I'm completely serious." If Altair was messing with her, Nova couldn't tell. Her eyes were fixated solely on the deadly serious look on his face, and she felt her breath catch in her throat as he spoke. "Nova, believe me when I say this: even if the professor didn't ask me to assist you, I still would have offered you my help anyways."

Nova shook her head back and forth in disbelief. "...but why?" She staggered as she pressed her hand to her forehead, accusingly staring at the ground in confusion. "I just don't understand...why anyone..."

Altair looked sad as he spoke to her, wanting nothing other than to get his feelings across without her misunderstanding him again. "I know you don't really know me all that well, but I'm a pretty upstanding guy." He reached up and grabbed the back of his neck as he flashed her a charmingly awkward grin. "Helping people out is just kind of my thing."

Nova scoffed in disbelief as she wore a cynical smirk. "Helping people is just your thing?" She internally kicked herself for being unable to stay angry at him, bitterly smiling despite herself. "Geez, what are you? An altruist?"

Altair awkwardly chuckled as he ran a hand through his hair, not looking her in the eyes as an unbalanced smile stretched across his face. "Well, I guess that's one way of looking at it, yeah."

Nova just shook her head at him as she studied the expression on his face with a look of stupor on her own. "Seriously...why do you even...?"

"Why do I care?" Altair finished her sentence for her plainly, then widened his eyes in surprise when she immediately snapped at him.

"Stop doing that!" Nova narrowed her eyes at him as they fell into a glare, freaked out by how he just finished her thought before she could.

"Stop doing what?" Altair stared at her innocently, and Nova sighed bitterly when she noticed that he looked just like his sister did when he made a face like that.

No wonder Pandora was so adorably charming. She learned it from her brother...

Nova grabbed at her hair and pulled on it as she grunted in frustration, shutting her eyes tight. "Stop finishing my thoughts for me like you're some kind of fucking mind reader! Stop that!"

Altair smugly looked at her silly expression as he shot her a wry smirk, crossing his arms over his chest as he rose an eyebrow. "Sorry, but it's kind of hard not to know what you're thinking when you literally have everything that's going through your mind written all over your stupid face."

Nova's jaw fell open and her eyes widened simultaneously. "What!? No it's not!"

Altair chuckled under his breath as he looked at her in disbelief, slowly shaking his head as an uneasy smile came to his face. "You're really..."

Nova pouted as she menacingly began shooting a thousand daggers at him with her eyes. "What? I'm really what?"

Altair smirked and pointed at her as he drew his head back in amusement. "Don't tell me that you don't notice it?"

"Don't notice what!?" Nova began losing her patience as she blew her top, and she threw her fists down to her sides.

Altair looked straight into her eyes with a meaningful smile on his face. "Nova, you're probably the most expressive, captivating person I've ever met."

Nova felt her face flush at his words, feeling horribly embarrassed as her breath caught in her throat. "C-captivating!?"

Altair coolly closed his eyes as he made an observation about her. "Ah, see? You're getting all embarrassed now because I paid you a compliment, and you instantly misunderstood the intentions behind my word choice."

Nova bit the inside of her cheek as she turned away in a huff. "N-no I didn't!"

"Really?" Altair smirked as he circled back around to her front, looking at her pissed off face in amusement. "So you're _not_ embarrassed by the fact that I find you to be a very interesting person to be around?"

"N-no..." Nova frowned as hard as she could, forcing herself to breath under his scrutinizing gaze. "Although I can't see why you'd think that..."

Altair wore an uneasy smile as he looked at her, a little sad that she didn't see how amazing she was herself. He then flashed her a wry grin as he walked past her and purposefully bumped into her shoulder. "Well, I can honestly say you're the first girl I've ever met who never hesitates to yell at me, or hit me in the face with a door."

"Urk...!" Nova's words tripped over one another as she waffled to form a response as she chased after him. "I uh...um..."

Altair turned around and walked backwards toward an open patch of grass as he smirked at Nova, who was walking briskly to keep up with him. "And I've never met a girl who snores and wears the most unattractive facial expression as she drools in her state of being sound asleep."

Nova never looked more horrified in her entire life as she slapped the sides of her red face. "Ack! So you did see that!?"

Altair shrugged his shoulders with a wry grin as he innocently looked up at the sky. "Well, it was kind of hard to miss." He laughed at the look on her face and turned back around, and he stopped in the middle of the large field on the side of the school. He whirled around just as Nova crashed face-first into his chest, only embarrassing her further. "So, yes, I find you interesting. I'd have to say that it's pretty hard _not_ to."

"Umm..." Nova bit down on her lip as she awkwardly took a step back, hesitantly flickering her gaze up to look at him.

Altair simply rose an eyebrow as he looked at her face. "See, now your face is getting all red again." He smirked devilishly as he leaned in closer to her, studying her every move. She really was quite the interesting person to look at. "Are you embarrassed? Flustered from being around me?"

"No!" Nova instantly hardened her glare at his innocent teasing, growing angrier and angrier with each passing word. "Of course not! Go to hell...!"

Altair drew his head back in surprise as he stared at her widened eyes. "Oh, you're not?" That devilishly charming grin found its way back to his lips as he took a dangerous step closer to Nova. "So, if I were to get close like this..."

"A-Altair..." Nova awkwardly tried to take a step back away from him as he closed in on her, but he stopped her from escaping by wrapping his arm around the small of her back and pulling her directly into his toned chest.

"...you wouldn't react?" Altair smirked as he finished his sentence, leaning down eerily close to her face.

Nova stopped breathing as she stared up at Altair's face in dumbfounded surprise, fighting herself to remain composed. "N-nope. I wouldn't."

The animal-like glint in Altair's eyes instantly disappeared as his regular demeanor returned, and he released Nova from his gentle grip as he removed himself from her personal space bubble. "...pfft." Altair's whole face lit up as he fell into a loud, uncontrollable laugh, and he fell down onto the grass and laughed as he shielded his eyes from the sun with one of his arms.

Nova's lungs inhaled sharply as she felt her anxiety melt away now that they weren't so close any more, and she pathetically whimpered as she stared down at him. "What's so funny!?"

"You're trying so hard to give me an angry look and not get flustered, and your face right now is just so hilarious that I can't help but laugh!" Altair's chest repeatedly rose and fell as his laughing continued, which only made Nova's face grow more and more red.

"H-hey! What're you...!" Nova tripped over her words as she struggled to make herself glare at him, and she let out a loud huff as she let her arms slam against her chest as she heavily crossed them.

"Look, Nova..." Altair calmed his laughter as he sat up and stared at her with an unusually serious look on his face. "You don't have anything to worry about being around me. I want you to feel comfortable with this whole arrangement." He looked up at her with a calm smile. "I don't have any interest in being in a relationship, remember? You have nothing to worry about."

Nova felt a heavy weight on her shoulders suddenly lift as she stared at the ground. "I guess that's true..."

Altair slowly stood and looked down at the shorter girl's sunset-colored eyes that reminded him of the brightest of shining lights. "If you ever get the wrong idea about something I say, or the intentions behind something I do... You can always just ask me upfront." He smiled at her when she let out the breath she was holding, feeling like he had managed to get through to her this time. "I can promise that anything I feel towards you will be nothing more than platonic." He bashfully stared down at the ground with his hands in his pockets, and he slowly rose his beautiful eyes to look at her. "So...don't feel uncomfortable around me, okay? I'd really like us to be friends."

"I..." Nova's lip quivered as she looked at him, at a loss for words. A feeling of overwhelming frustration bubbled up within her, and she finally snapped. "Ugh! I hate you!"

"Ow!" Altair had the most dumbfounded look of surprise on his face as he grabbed the arm she had just suddenly punched; and with incredible force, he might add. "What was that for!?"

Nova sharply exhaled as she threw her hands up into the air in annoyance. "You're so _infuriatingly_ likable!" She glared at him as hard as she could, not even flinching at the surprised look on his face. "You make it impossible for someone to hate you!"

Altair's look of surprise slowly turned up into a wry smile as he massaged the spot on his arm Nova had punched, already feeling the temporary pain ebbing away. "Ah, so does this mean you think you can get along with me now?"

"I never said that!" Nova snapped at him, turning her chin up and away from him.

"Hmm." Altair looked at her thoughtfully as he stroked his chin. "Alright, would you say that the main reason you're against this partnership is because you had no say in it?"

"Of course that's why." Nova rolled her eyes with her arms crossed, as if that fact were completely obvious. "Who would want someone they trust to go behind their back and hire someone to help them because they think they're so useless that they couldn't possibly function on their own?" She looked completely defeated as she stared down at the ground, feeling as if she were worthless in every sense of the word.

Altair stared at her with his arms crossed, taking her feelings seriously as he listened to everything she said. "Alright, then how about we make a deal?"

"Huh?" Nova looked up incredibly fast and flicked her gaze up to meet his.

Altair let out a heavy sigh before taking a step toward her. "I don't break my promises under any circumstances, but I also don't ever want to do something against a person's wishes." He began pacing around her in a circle as he spoke. "So, here's my offer: stick with me for the rest of today, and let me help you through clearing the Trainer School challenge." He stopped pacing and hesitantly looked away from her eyes with a hint of sadness hidden behind them. "If you still think by the end of today that I'm just an annoyance who shouldn't bother helping you, I'll back off."

"...what?" Nova felt guilty that this was how Altair saw himself in her eyes, because undoubtedly he had come to that conclusion as a result of how poorly she had been treating him from the moment they first met. She had been misdirecting her anger and frustrations with her cousin and her mother at Altair, a nice guy who just wanted to help her, and still, after all of that, he still was doing all of this for her. "...you would seriously do that for me?"

"Yes, but you have to cooperate fully and let me teach you what I have planned for today." Altair nodded his head firmly, then met her transfixing eyes once more. "After all of that, if you still don't want me to be your mentor, I'll back off. Deal?"

Nova frowned as she stared at the grassy floor, mindlessly rubbing her arm. "But what about your promise to Kukui...?"

Altair matched her frown with one of his own, but his conviction did not falter once as he averted her gaze and stared down at the floor. "I hate breaking promises to people, but I would hate to hurt someone even more." His tone dropped to one that of a kicked Lillipup, and he pathetically looked up into her eyes. "I don't want to hurt you, Nova. And if being around me hurts you in any way... I'll go."

Nova felt like her head was spinning from how hurt he sounded, and all she could think about now was how she was going to apologize to him. "Altair, I..."

Altair didn't let her finish as he stared straight ahead with a serious look on his face. "So? Do we have a deal?"

Nova's frown hardened into a fierce look of determination. "...Deal."

* * *

"This is stupid." Nova stared ahead at the large rock in disbelief, hanging her head low in dumbfounded shock at Altair's ludicrous request.

Altair's chipper mood had returned as he laughed incredulously at her. "What? No it's not! It's a good exercise for beginners!"

Nova waved her hands back and forth in front of her as she shut her eyes. "Okay, okay. Stop. I think we need to set some ground rules first if we're going to be mentor and apprentice."

Altair smirked and crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at her from the side. "Alright, I'm all ears."

Nova spun around on her heel to face him with one of her fingers up. "Rule number one: no belittling words that undermines either me or my age, like newbie, beginner, novice, kid, kiddo, child..." She frowned and rose an eyebrow at him. "None of that."

Altair simply just stared at her in bewilderment as he deadpanned, "...you're really sensitive about the whole starting at nineteen rather than eleven thing, aren't you?"

Nova's face grew red as steam shot from her ears. "Shut up! Are you going to listen to me or not!?"

"Alright, alright!" Altair laughed, holding his hands up in defense. "Rule number two: you can't give up. If I tell you to try something that will help you, you can't call it stupid, and you have to actually give it a try." He leaned in with a skeptical look on his face, staring Nova right in the eyes. "Agreed?"

Nova frowned and grumbled under her breath in annoyance. "Agreed..."

"Anything else you want to add?" Altair ribbed her, smiling despite himself.

"No more messing with me!" Nova stomped her foot and threw her fists down to her sides. "Being teased by you is...is...!"

Altair drew his head back in amusement as he wryly looked at her. "Is what?"

Nova felt her words disappear as she caught sight of the look on his face, and she grew frustrated all over again. "Urk...well, it's just annoying, okay! So no more of that!"

Altair pretended to think it over for at least a second before immediately shaking his head no. "Yeah, no can do. I'll abide by the first rule, but I won't with this one."

Nova dropped her jaw in surprise as her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. "What? Why not!?"

Altair's voice dropped down to an irritatingly attractive, low tone as he leaned in closer to her face and smirked at her. "Because teasing you is just way too much fun to stop."

"A-Altair...!" Nova slapped a hand over her mouth as her face grew red from his teasing, and she felt herself shiver from anxiety.

Altair simply took a hold of her arms and effortlessly turned her around to face the large grey rock before them once more. "Alright, now try this again."

Nova slumped in his arms as she pathetically stared ahead at the rock. "But this is ridicu..."

"Ahem." Altair cleared his throat, wryly smiling down at Nova. "Rule number two, remember?"

Nova was already starting to regret setting these ground rules as she glared ahead, pulling herself from Altair's grip as she huffily stomped over to the rock. "...fine. I'll stand on the damn rock. Not like it's actually going to do anything..."

Altair chuckled under his breath as he watched Nova climb up to the top, shaking his head at her. "Okay, good! Now that you're up there, here's what I want you to do." He laughed when she shot him an intense look of annoyance, and he looked up at her directly. "I want you to close your eyes, stick your arms out so they're parallel with the ground, and drawn in one long, deep breath."

Nova hung her head low in dumbfounded surprise at this unusual request. "What? Are you fu..."

"Ah, ah." Altair cut her off as he shook a finger at her, raising an eyebrow as if he was just _daring_ her to say something back. "No complaints, just do it."

Nova gave up as she rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright... I'll do it." She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, listening to Altair's directions fully.

Altair smiled as he looked up at the oddly obedient stubborn ass before him. "See, now was that so hard?"

"What the hell did that accomplish?" Nova instantly fell from her posture and opened her eyes, complaining the second the exercise was over.

Altair chuckled and shook his head at her impatience as he studied her. "Well, for starters, you seem to be a lot less tense now."

"Huh?" Nova's face fell into a look of surprise as her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline.

"Nova, look at your posture. You're all rigid and tense." Altair called up to her, holding his hand out to direct her attention to the top of her body all the way down to the bottom. "You think too much, and that's your problem." He walked over to the large rock and held his hand up for her to take, silently offering to help her down. "Pokemon battling isn't all in your head, you know. It's a reflection of a Trainer's bond with their Pokemon, and how they can use that bond to achieve their goals."

Nova stared down at Altair's outstretched hand, then sighed as she looked to his face. "So what do you suggest I do...?"

Altair was not deterred by her reluctance, and he smiled at her warmly as he still held his hand out for her to take. "Get out of your head and start using your heart."

"That..." Nova stared at him in awe as her face slowly stretched up into a sarcastic smile. "...is the dumbest thing I've ever heard." She laughed as soon as he did at her snide remark, and she reached out and clasped her hand around his without giving it another second of thought.

"Haha, I'm serious though!" Altair laughed and pulled Nova off of the rock, catching her in his arms. "Nova, when you think too much, your Pokemon is going to feel more like a tool rather than a partner."

"What...?" Nova widened her eyes in shock as Altair let go of her, but not before he made sure she stabilized her balance on the ground.

"Yeah, that's something they don't tell you when you're handed a starter and a Pokedex." Altair shot her an unbalanced smile as he found himself staring at her glimmering sunset-colored eyes. "You have to figure that out on your own."

Nova tilted her head to the side as she looked up at him in confusion. "Then why are you telling me this now...?"

"Well..." Altair awkwardly scratched at the back of his head, a little unsure of how to answer that. "I guess I want to give you the help that I wish I had when I first started out." He turned and faced the school building with a peaceful look of nostalgia on his face. "I trained at this school for a month before I left for my island challenge, because I had the same problem you're facing now."

Nova had never heard something more surprising in her entire life. "What? Really?"

"Mmhmm." Altair nodded his head, staring up at the clear blue sky. "I was always so focused on studying type match-ups, or what move was the strongest. I never noticed that my Pokemon started to feel like tools rather than trusted partners, so I lost a lot of battles when I first started out."

"Somehow I have trouble picturing that..." Nova felt herself awkwardly smile as she brushed her bangs from her eyes.

Altair turned around slowly and looked at her. And not with some half-hearted glance, either; he really _looked_ at her. "Well, even if you can't picture it, it's true." He took a step closer and took up Nova's hand in his, then placed her hand over her heart as he looked directly into her eyes. "If your heart's not in it, _both_ of your hearts, you're not going to get anywhere as a Trainer."

Nova felt her breath catch in her throat, and she looked down at where her hand rested over her heart when Altair let go of her and took a step back. "So what do I do...?"

Nova stared at Altair's back in confusion as he began to look for something inside her bag from where it rested on the ground, and she gasped in surprise when he returned to her with Popplio's Pokeball in hand.

"Trust Popplio." Altair smiled sweetly at her as he placed Popplio's Pokeball in Nova's hands, then clasped his own around them. "A Pokemon battle isn't all on you, Nova. Get out of your head and do what you feel is right." He cocked his head to the side as he gazed at her. "Like I said, you've got a knack for this. All you need to do is trust yourself more."

"Trust myself...?" Nova's shoulders slouched as she gently pulled her hands from Altair's, staring down at her reflection shining in Popplio's Pokeball.

Altair nodded his head as he began to smile even bigger with each passing second. "Yes. Trust yourself, and your Pokemon will follow."

"That..." Nova fell quiet as she suddenly looked up from Popplio's Pokeball and met Altair's eyes, wearing a devious grin. "...is the cheesiest thing I've ever heard."

Altair sweatdropped as he awkwardly stared off to the side. "Ouch... You really know how to pack a punch to a guy's ego..."

"...but, I really appreciate it." Nova quietly finished her thought as she shyly kicked at the ground with her arms behind her back.

"Hmm?" Altair suddenly looked to her, genuinely surprised by her change in character.

And for the first time that day, Nova really...smiled.

"I think... You might be onto something there." Nova's lips twitched up into the biggest, brightest smile as she found herself beginning to laugh.

Altair dropped his jaw at the sight of Nova smiling and laughing, taken aback by this rare view. And then...he started to mockingly stare at her in bewilderment. "What is this? The great Nova Lise is admitting she's in the wrong, and I'm actually right about something?" He suddenly turned around and shouted to everyone in the school yard with his hands cupped around his mouth. "EVERYONE, BARE WITNESS TO THIS INCREDIBLE MOMENT IN HISTORY! THE MOMENT WHERE NOVA LISE WAS WRONG...!"

"Altair, cut it out!" Nova squeaked in embarrassment as she scrambled to pull on Altair's arm, causing the boy to laugh at the top of his lungs. "God, you're so embarrassing!" She whined, then pressed a hand to her forehead. "Agh, and right when I was about to give you a compliment, too. What a shame."

Altair immediately stopped laughing as his curiosity took over. "Oh, a compliment?" He smiled and leaned in close to her face, peering into her eyes innocently. "Well, now you have to tell me what you were going to say."

"Nope." Nova shut her eyes and crossed her arms as she turned away from him in a huff, tilting her chin up to the sky. "Not telling."

Altair laughed as a whine escaped his lips, and he ran around to her front. "Oh come on, Nova!"

"Nuh uh. Not saying it." Nova jerked her face away from him again, stubbornly refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing her compliment him on something.

Altair sighed, seemingly about to give up. "Fine then. I guess I'll just have to _make_ you tell me."

Nova's eyes snapped wide open in horror at that, and she barely had any time to react before Altair reached out and grabbed her. "Wha...hey! Haha, stop that, ahh! That tickles!" He tickled her sides relentlessly, laughing along with Nova as she squirmed to escape his strong grasp. "Cut it out, Altair...pfft, HAHAHA! Okay, okay, I give!"

Altair spun her around to face him with a taunting smirk on his face. "So, you were saying?"

Nova wiped a tear from her eye as she calmed her laughter. "I was going to say that I think you're right." She awkwardly ran a hand through her hair, refusing to meet his eyes. "I think I was so focused on winning because I had something to prove, and I didn't even think about Popplio's feelings..." She stared down at the Pokeball clutched within her hand with an uneasy smile on her face. "I'm sorry, girl. I shouldn't have rushed things, and I should have taken the chance to really bond with you before I let my ambition to show Kukui I can be independent make me go a little stir crazy..."

"I doubt Popplio holds it against you, for what it's worth." Altair curiously looked into Nova's eyes as he smiled at her.

"You think?" Nova helplessly looked up from Popplio's Pokeball, flickering her gaze to fixate on Altair.

"Yeah, of course." Altair didn't even hesitate to nod his head. "All new Trainers have something to prove." An awkward smile found its way to his lips as he amusedly narrowed his eyes at her. "You just had...a stronger will. That's all."

Nova let out the breath she was holding and giggled under her breath. "Well, I think that's the nicest way anyone has ever told me that I'm impossibly stubborn."

Altair couldn't help but grin at that as he laughed. "All jokes aside, I think you're ready now, Nova."

"You think?" Nova's lips upturned into a hopeful smile as the anticipation ran through her veins.

"I do." Altair decisively nodded his head.

Nova bit down on her lip before breaking out into a huge grin. "I... Alright. I'll give this my best shot!"

"Now that's more like it!" Altair made a fist and brought it down excitedly. "Come on, Nova. Let's go find those four Trainers you have to battle." He held his hand out for her to take, and this time, she didn't hesitate.

"Okay!" Nova smiled angelically as she let Altair pull her by the hand, excitedly awaiting her adventure that was soon to come.

* * *

There was really no way to accurately describe the feeling she experienced when she finally won. That sense of accomplishment and self-worth she gained the second she watched her opponent's final Pokemon hit the ground, while hers was still standing. Nova had never been so ecstatic in her entire life, and as she won time after time, she felt her insecurities of being a terrible Trainer begin to melt away.

Nova and Altair ran around the school yard together in pursuit of the four Trainers she had to challenge. The first guy was pretty arrogant, refusing her offer to battle until she defeated the other three Trainers on campus. Apparently, the guy thought that he was the best of them all, so she had to save him for last. The first Trainer she ended up taking on was a girl with holding a badminton racket, and she had a Pikipek with her. Nova was pleasantly surprised just how much easier this battle was compared to her last two against Hau. She wasn't nearly as pressured to win this time, and that alone made a considerable difference. This time, her audience was only Altair, and she strangely felt comforted by the fact that he was there to watch her battle. Nova and Popplio were amazingly in sync during this battle, and the commands came a lot easier to Nova this time around. Altair's words of wisdom echoed in her mind, and as she began to stop overthinking everything, she found herself acting more on her gut.

She was amazed by just how much that did for her.

Nova had won that battle with Popplio, and she had won her next one, too. Her next battle was against a little girl with a Bonsly, which proved to be extremely easy for Popplio, due to her type advantage over the rock-type. Popplio was able to beat the little boy with a Metapod with ease after winning her last two battles, and by the time Nova came back around to face the first guy she had approached who turned her away, her Popplio was much, much stronger.

The Alolan Grimer staggered and fell to the ground in a defeated puddle. He was completely drained of all energy as he lied there in a state of stupor. His green, sludge-like body pooled on the ground in a puddle, and the yellow goo around his mouth formed a solid line when his mouth closed. Popplio let out a victorious "bwark!" as she jumped up and did a flip in the air, having a renowned sense of victory wash over her.

Nova's lips stretched up into the biggest, brightest grin when the Trainer she faced muttered curses under his breath and returned his Pokemon to his Pokeball. "I... I won! Altair, I won!" She whirled around and grinned at Altair, genuinely thrilled and happy with her victory.

"You did great, Nova!" Altair laughed a little under his breath as he found himself lost in a trance at the sight of her smile, which burned a thousand times brighter than the sweltering sun above them. You would never guess that such a cold person could have the warmest smile in all of Alola. No...in the entire universe.

The low, melodic chime of the school bell rang out through the school yard as Lillie walked up to Nova to congratulate her on her victory. "Oh, that's the school bell."

"ATTENTION, ALL STUDENTS... WOULD NOVA PLEASE COME TO THE OFFICE ON THE SECOND FLOOR? NOVA TO THE SECOND FLOOR OFFICE."

As Nova screwed up her face in confusion, Lillie whirled around and stared at Nova in shock. "What terrible thing did you do to get called to the office so soon?"

Nova held up her hands in defense. "Nothing, I swear!"

Altair coolly joined the conversation from where he leaned up against the trunk of a palm tree on the sidelines of the battlefield. "She probably shattered all the glass inside with that icy glare of hers."

"Hey!" Nova half-heartedly scowled over in his direction, smiling despite herself.

Nova returned Popplio to her Pokeball before joining Altair by his side so they could walk back up to the school building together. Lillie said she would wait for them out in the school yard, suggesting that they walk to Hau'oli City together after Nova's challenge was over. The white-haired girl walked alongside the tall boy with black hair as they ascended the staircase, and when they got to the top, the lady teacher from before was waiting for them.

The teacher clapped her hands excitedly as she beamed at Nova. "Nova... I can't believe that you beat all of my students! Fantastic!"

"Yeah, neither can I..." Nova awkwardly let out a self-depreciating laugh.

Nova smiled cheerily when Altair supportively patted her on the shoulder, wryly looking at her. "Hey, have more confidence in yourself. You did amazing today, Nova."

"Well, I..." Nova grabbed the back of her neck as she bashfully looked down at the tile floor.

"After seeing such a performance, I think I'd like to battle you myself!" The lady teacher flashed her a look of confidence as she stood there strongly. "What do you say? Are you ready to take me on?"

"Definitely." Nova nodded her head before flashing Altair behind her a quick look.

The lady teacher laughed, flabbergasted. "As a teacher, I've got to see for myself what you did to beat four of my students!"

Nova stared straight ahead with a look of emptiness in her eyes as she deadpanned, "Internally scream throughout the whole thing and flounder around in a panic."

The lady teacher dropped her jaw in shock, and Altair had to bite his cheek to keep himself from laughing as he broke the awkward silence. "She's joking."

The lady teacher's mouth formed an 'O' shape as she awkwardly let out a small laugh. "O-oh, that was a joke? Haha, I see!"

Nova had to stifle her laugh too as she stared off to the side, speaking unconvincingly. "Yeah, I was totally joking."

* * *

Professor Kukui heard the sound of a Pokemon battle in progress as soon as he set foot inside the Trainer's School, and he couldn't help but grin to the man he was walking beside as he let out a loud chuckle. The tanned man had short pink hair and wore white pants, a white polo shirt, and had a brown diamond-pattern sweater vest pulled over top. He had a teal fanny pack around his hips and carried a small agenda and chalkboard in his hand, and he wore teal socks with white and brown shoes. His eyes were always smiling, and as he and Professor Kukui ascended the stairs, they both broke out into wide grins at the sight of the intense battle they just walked in on.

"Popplio, don't let Meowth scratch you! Knock him off his feet with a water gun, then pound him senseless!"

"Meowth, avoid that water gun and use your fury swipes on Popplio, and bite into her tail!"

Professor Kukui and the mysterious man joined Altair in leaning up against the wall, out of the way of the ongoing battle in the hallway.

"Hey, Professor." Altair grinned and fist-bumped Professor Kukui when he walked up, and he grinned and waved to the mysterious man to say hello. "IIima! Long time no see!"

"Hello, Altair." The mysterious man named Ilima nodded his head to Altair before retracing his gaze to the ongoing battle. "Well, this is quite the curious sight, now isn't it?"

Professor Kukui let out a laugh as he roughly clapped Altair on the shoulder. "Ho ho, great job, my friend! Nova's battling great, yeah!"

"You should've seen her earlier." Altair smiled proudly as he leaned over and spoke to the two men beside him, not once taking his eyes off of Nova as he continued to watch her battle. "She's amazing, Professor. A natural, even. It's been a long time since I've come across a Trainer this talented so early on."

"And it's all thanks to you, I suppose?" Ilima quirked an eyebrow with a small smile on his face, and he looked to Altair to study his reactions.

"Not in the slightest." Altair refused to take credit for Nova's progress, staring at her strong stature from where he stood with a renowned sense of pride. "She had the skills all along. I just...helped her see that."

"I see." Ilima found himself smiling too as he followed Altair's gaze, looking on at the battle before him.

Popplio was seconds away from defeating the lady teacher's Alolan Meowth, who was tattered and scarred from their battle as he breathed erratically. At the sound of her Trainer's command, Popplio's eyes sharpened with determination as she felt a rush of adrenaline swim throughout her small body, which was now tougher than it used to be. She rushed ahead at the Meowth sneering at her, and she slid across the floor in order to duck the Meowth's swipe of his claws. She stopped right behind him and back-handed him with her tail, sending him flying into the concrete wall opposite of them and eliciting a shivering crack from Meowth's spine. Popplio was brimming with excitement as she saw the Meowth crumple to the floor in exhaustion, not even making an attempt to get up again this time. He was too tired to keep trying, so the Meowth closed his eyes and allowed his consciousness slip from him.

The lady teacher was taken aback by her crushing defeat, staring across the hallway at Nova in shock. "Wow... You, my dear, are truly stunning!"

Nova grinned enchantingly as she high-flippered her Popplio, then returned her to her Pokeball for a well-deserved rest. "Well... I didn't do it alone." She turned and look at Altair over her shoulder to smile to him meaningfully, but her grin grew even bigger when she saw her cousin was there as well, along with another man she had yet to be introduced to.

"Good job, Nova." The lady teacher giggled at her opponent's performance, returning Meowth to his Pokeball to rest. "Maybe you'd like to take over as teacher here for me someday!"

Nova wore a sarcastic grin on her face as she looked at the teacher, pointing back at Altair over her shoulder with her thumb. "Why, so I can to work with him on a daily basis? I'll pass."

Altair playfully winced as he exhaled sharply, still leaning up against the wall. "Ouch, Nova. After all we've been through, you're still stone-cold."

The lady teacher erupted into a cheerful laugh at the two's playful banter. "Haha, you two work well together!"

Nova whirled around and stared at her in shock. "Us? No way."

"Oh, so there's an us now? You're acknowledging that we're a team?" Altair called out to her from behind, and he laughed when he saw her immediately cringe at the sound of his teasing.

Nova spun around on her heel to playfully glare at him. "What? No!" Her eyes widened in panic when Altair lunged for her and pulled her into his arms, and she began to furiously giggle as he tickled her relentlessly once again. "Hey, Altair, stop! Pfft, HAHAHAHA!"

The lady teacher smiled at the sight of Nova and Altair messing around, shaking her head a little. "All joking aside, though, you did really well today, Nova. I think it's safe to say you've passed your Trainer School Challenge and can move on to your Island Challenge."

"Really!?" Nova froze and immediately looked at the lady teacher with widened eyes, pushing Altair down and eliciting a small 'ow!' from him as he hit the floor.

"I'm glad to see that you seem to know your Pokemon and their moves now, yeah!" Professor Kukui walked up and ruffled Nova's hair, earning a scowl from her.

Nova rolled her eyes as she smoothed out her hair. "Kukui...who is this?" She looked over at the third smiling man who lingered in the corner of the hallway, intrigued by his pastel pink hair.

"Greetings!" Ilima walked up and shook Nova's hand respectfully. "Captain Ilima here. I couldn't help but observe your battles. You looked so very delightful in battle that I had no choice but to summon you here."

"Huh?" Nova cocked her head to the side at that fact. He...was the one who summoned her here?

"Ilima, I'd like you to meet my little cousin Nova, who moved here to Alola from the Kanto region." Professor Kukui placed his hand on Ilima's shoulder, directing his attention to Nova. "She's got a real sense for how to use moves, and I think she's gonna go far as a Trainer, yeah!"

"Kukui..." Nova tilted her head to the side and smiled, touched by his genuinely kind words.

"I see!" Ilima retraced his gaze back to Nova; the smile on his face did not waver, even for a second. "Then welcome, newcomer. I look forward to seeing the brilliance of your moves in my trial."

"Wait... Trial?" Nova's eyes slowly widened in recognition, and then they were immediately replaced by stars as she grew excited. "You're one of the Captains for the Island Challenge, aren't you?"

"Indeed!" Ilima nodded his head to her. "We Captains are the ones who conduct the trials you will face on your way to challenging the Island Kahuna." He placed his hand on his chest and gave a little bow. "My trial is held in Verdant Cavern: the trial of Captain Ilima." He glanced down at the single Pokeball in Nova's hands, fixating his eyes on her stature wryly as he spoke. "You can find wild Pokemon in any patch of grass around here. Perhaps you'll want to fill out your team a bit before attempting my trial? I sincerely look forward to your challenge."

The lady teacher looked over to the professor and gave him a thumbs up. "Oh yeah, Kukui, I reported to the people upstairs and they took care of the Tauros blocking the path to Hau'oli City."

Professor Kukui let out a hearty chuckle as he shook his head. "Hah! That guy's Tauros is pretty much a celebrity here on Melemele, isn't it?"

"Huh?" Nova quirked an eyebrow in confusion, then turned to Altair as she looked up at him and lightly tugged at his sleeve to gain his attention. "Altair, what is he talking about?"

"Hala's Tauros is infamous for always wandering around Melemele and getting in people's way." Altair explained simply, shaking his head at Nova's lack of observational skills. "It was wreaking havoc over by the entrance to Hau'oli City earlier."

Nova's eyes snapped wide open in shock. "Seriously? I wonder how I didn't notice that..."

Altair pretended to yawn as he began to walk down the stairs. "You were probably too busy releasing all the hot air from the inside of your head."

"Hey...!" Nova scowled at his back as he walked away from her, and both of them were laughing all the while.

The lady teacher chuckled at the two bantering once again, rather enjoying this odd display of friendship. "Hahah! Well, I guess it's time that we dismiss you from school, Nova."

* * *

At the front gate outside the school, all of the students and teachers gathered in a crowd for a huge send-off. Professor Kukui, Lillie, and Captain Ilima were among them all as well.

The lady teacher waved good-bye to the two as she called out to them. "Take care of your Pokemon! Good luck with your Island Challenge, Nova!"

"Bye, Altair! I'll miss you!" Pandora waved excitedly with her Stufful at her feet, bleary eyed from the tears that threatened to pour over her cheeks at any minute.

Altair flashed her an unbalanced smile, waving farewell to her too. "Good-bye, Panda Bear! I'll be back soon!"

Professor Kukui waved good-bye to them as well, grinning immensely in their direction. "Show 'em what you're made of, Nova! Take care of her, Altair!"

"Kukui...!" Nova cried out in embarrassment, not nearly as mad at him now for saying that as she was last time.

"Don't worry, Professor! I'm on it!" Altair grinned as he waved back to him, shooting Nova a sideways glance, which she returned with a playful scowl.

"You seemed to be in perfect sync with Popplio, weren't you?" Lillie awkwardly smiled at Nova as she approached the two, trying to work up the courage to say something. "Um... Since we've come this far together, why don't I show you some more of the city? There's a lot to see." She looked over at Altair shyly as she almost winced out a meek smile. "If you don't me imposing on your training time with Nova of course, Altair."

"I don't mind at all!" Altair chuckled as he turned and ushered Lillie and Nova to follow him out. "Come on, girls! Let's head out for Hau'oli City!"

Nova turned and began to follow Altair and Lillie out, but she paused at the gate and turned over her shoulder, smiling and waving to the crowd behind them before they left. "Good-bye, everyone!"

"You better notzzz screw up, Nova!"

"SHUT IT, ROTOM!"

* * *

 **WOOOOOOOOOW okay this was kind of long too. And by kind of long, I mean it was so long that I actually beat my record for longest word count in a single chapter;;; 18,930 words.**

 **I feel like a majority of my chapters in this book are going to be kind of long? (Like 8000-10000 words on average probably)**

 **LOL GOOD LUCK GUYS YOU BETTER GET USED TO IT! XD**

 **Not that you can really complain, right? With how often I update, it gives you guys more stuff to read! XD it would be horrible if I published like 3000 words worth of content for you to read once a month, wouldn't it?**

 **So after reading this chapter, you guys learned that there is no secret romantic meaning or ulterior motive to Altair's actions and words _at the moment_ XD XD XD XD XD if anything, Nova is the only one getting flustered by the other at present.**

 **...how mad does it make you guys that I'm already making this ship REALLY hard to sail?**

 **Lolololololololololol...I should probably take cover now.**

 ***ducks from flying chairs and tables crashing through the windows***

 **SORRY NOT SORRY LOL I TOLD YOU GUYS THIS BOOK WOULD BE DIFFERENT THAN ANYTHING I'VE EVER WRITTEN BEFORE SO BRACE YOURSELF FOR THE HELL OF AN EMOTIONAL RIDE THIS BOOK IS GOING TO BE! If you thought To Steal the Heart of a Thief was an emotional tear-jerker, oh, you have a surprise coming.**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


	8. Chapter 8

Lillie plodded ahead of the two behind her, leaving Nova and Altair to themselves as they walked beside one another. As the two of them began to put some distance between themselves and the Trainer's School, Altair looked over at Nova with a serious expression that immediately earned her attention.

"So... Have you decided?" Altair jammed his hands in his jacket pockets as he shot her a sideways glance.

Nova stopped and blinked as she turned to look at Altair, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Decided what?"

An uneven smirk came across Altair's lips as he realized their conversation from earlier had completely slipped her mind. "Don't you remember our agreement?"

Nova's eyes slowly widened as she suddenly recalled Altair's words from earlier.

 _"Stick with me for the rest of today, and let me help you through clearing the Trainer School challenge. If you still think by the end of today that I'm just an annoyance who shouldn't bother helping you, I'll back off."_

Nova swallowed long and hard as she realized he was probably awaiting her answer now. "Oh... _That_ agreement."

Altair grinned mischievously as he leaned closer to his face with his hands remaining in his pockets, backing Nova up against the Trainer School's fence. "So? What'll it be?"

Nova's back hit the fence as she kept her distance from the taunting, charming idiot. Her eyes were as wide as a Deerling's staring down headlights. "I..."

Altair cocked his head to the side as he eagerly leaned in even closer to hear her barely audible words. "Yes...?"

Nova turned her head to the side with a frown so his face wouldn't be so close to hers, and she bitterly bit down on her lower lip as she furrowed her eyebrows. "...I guess you could stick around for a little longer."

Altair's whole face lit up with the excitement of a little boy on Christmas morning, and he instantly retreated back to his own personal space bubble as he straightened up his posture. "Alright! You won't regret this, Nova. I have so much to teach you still!"

Nova rolled her eyes and held up her hand to keep some distance between them as Altair went in for a hug, firmly rejecting the guy. "Don't get too carried away there, Casanova. Baby steps."

Altair swiftly took a step back from her and awkwardly ran a hand through his hair, wearing a sheepish grin all the while. "Right... Sorry!" He turned to look at the blonde ahead of him, laughing as he called out to her. "Hey, Lillie, slow down a little. You're leaving us in the dust!"

Lillie came to a startling halt at the sound of Altair's voice way behind her, and she flashed him a guilty smile as she tightened her grip on her barrel bag. "Oops, sorry...!" She jogged back a little to rejoin the two souls as polar opposite as the sun and moon.

A familiar, boyish voice rang out from behind the trio, causing all of their heads to turn. "Hey, guys!"

"Hau...?" Nova quirked an eyebrow at the sight of her younger rival running up to them with a stupidly happy smile plastered across his face.

Hau stopped in front of the three and let out a heavy exhale, catching his breath as he grinned at them. "So where are you three off to now?"

Lillie beamed at Hau's question. "I was thinking I should show Nova around Hau'oli City a bit."

"Nice idea!" Hau grinned boyishly, gently patting Lille on the arm. "You're always on top of things, Lillie!" He flashed her the most stunning smile ever as he paid her the genuine compliment, causing Lillie to squirm a little as she wore an awkward smile. "Can I tag along too? I wanna go get something to eat!"

Altair chuckled at Hau's enthusiasm. "Alright. Let's all go together."

Hau chuckled and shrugged his shoulders as he eagerly charged ahead. "Then what're we waiting for? This way, come on!"

Nova awkwardly watched Hau run ahead and begin to leave them in the dust, and she nervously twirled a strand of her shock-white hair around her finger. "We should probably go catch up with him before he gets too far."

"Agreed." Altair and Lillie chimed together in unison.

Lillie jogged ahead to try and catch up to Hau before he left her sight, and she frantically waved and called out to him ahead. "Wait, Hau! Please wait!" She paused and turned around to look at Nova over her shoulder. "Uh, Nova, I think I should probably stay with him. I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

Nova nodded her head in agreement, giving Lillie a small wave good-bye. "Sure, Lillie. Bye!"

Altair watched Lillie chase after Hau into the large beachfront city, staring straight ahead as their silhouettes disappeared into the distance. "Alright, Nova. Let's start your tour." He turned on his heel and began to walk backwards towards the city as he remained right in front of Nova. "First off, Hau'oli City is the biggest city in all of Alola."

Nova's eyebrows shot up into her hairline as they stepped through the city's entrance, and she began to take a look around her at the place. "Is it really?"

Hau'oli City certainly was huge. A seemingly endless paved road stretched on forever, lined by several shops and buildings on one side, and a huge beach on the other. Nova looked to her left and stared out at the glittering ocean as the sun hit high noon, and she found herself absentmindedly smiling at the sight of children and Pokemon playing together at the beach. Wingull dashed through the skies above them, flocking around the beach in particular. Stretches of tall grass encased by fenced areas dotted the city, and Nova caught a glance of the marina down at the far west side of the city filled with boats and ship captains barking orders at their crewmen.

"Oh yeah, it's definitely the biggest, although there are a couple other cities in Alola that try to give it a run for its money." Altair nodded his head in response to her question, and he held out his hand as he began to point everything out to her. "You've got a huge beachfront stretching across the west side of town, not to mention the marina and the mall."

Nova quirked an eyebrow at Altair in response to that last part. "There's a mall here?"

"Sure is." Altair grinned at her with a devious look in his eyes. "Why? Did you want to go check it out?"

"W-what!?" Nova immediately got on the defensive and scoffed, turning her chin up and away from him as she held eye contact with the snarky asshat. "Go shopping...? With you!?"

"What's so wrong with that?" Altair laughed incredulously at her, taken aback by her flat out refusal. She sure was oddly opinionated about the strangest things. "It's not like it's foreign to me. I do have a little sister, after all."

Nova kicked at the paved road as she bit down on her lip. "Well, I don't know..."

Altair let out a heavy sigh as he jammed his hands into his jacket pockets and looked at her with a sad, distant expression on his face. "...Nova, what have you done since you got to Alola?"

Nova reached up to brush her bangs out of her eyes as she looked off to the side of the road. "Um... Well, I moved in, got Popplio, battled Hau a couple times..." She paused and turned to look at Altair with those brilliantly captivating, sunset-orange eyes. "And you know the rest."

Altair let out a little "hm" sound to himself as he processed what she said. "So you really haven't done anything fun yet, have you?"

Nova flashed him the most confused look ever as she struggled to figure out where he was going with this. "I...guess not. Why?"

Altair's eyes had a glint of eagerness shining in them as he swooped his arm around Nova and began leading her over to the east side of town. "Alright, come on. Let's go."

Nova dug her heels into the ground as he continued dragging her along. "W-wait! Altair! Where are we going!?"

* * *

Altair gave Nova a little shove into the mall's designer clothing boutique, encouraging her to step inside along with him. "Alright, Nova. Since you're not from here, let me show you how to properly greet someone in Alola."

Nova rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh goody, I get to learn the special handshake... Because I will totally use that often."

Altair's lips formed a sly smirk as he quirked an eyebrow at her. "Not quite. All you do is say, 'Alola!' and move your hands like this." He held up his hands in front of his face and brought them down to his sides in a rainbow-like hand motion.

Nova copied the hand circle Altair did with an unconfident, confused expression written all over her face. "Like this?"

Altair nodded his head with a small grin. "That's exactly right." He stepped behind her and placed one hand on her shoulder as he pointed to one of the girl employees in the boutique across the floor from them. "Why don't you go ahead and try it on that saleswoman over there?"

Nova whined a little as she pathetically looked back at Altair behind her with a sideways glance, absolutely defeated. "...do I have to?"

"Yes, you have to." Alastair chuckled and gave her a little shove, sending her flying towards the sales associate.

Nova whimpered under her breath as she quickly regained her footing, nervously walking up to the saleswoman who noticed her immediately. Nova hesitantly copied the hand motion from before as she made awkward eye contact with the stranger. "U-uhm... Alola?"

The saleswoman's eyes lit up immediately as she greeted Nova back with a smile. "Oh! My, aren't you just adorable?" She leaned in a little closer to get a better look at Nova, studying her unique features. It wasn't often you saw someone with brilliantly orange eyes and naturally white hair. "You're not from here, are you?"

Nova let out an almost inaudible, anxious laugh as she eagerly shook her head no. "Oh, no, I..."

The saleswoman didn't even give her a chance to finish that sentence as she looked behind her at the other associate working the register. "Cherise! Come quickly! We have a new model to take for a test drive today!"

Nova's eyes immediately snapped open in horror as she processed what the woman just said. "W-wait, what!?" She turned around to look at Altair in a panic as she squeaked out his name. "Altair!"

"Come with us, sweetie!" The saleswoman began to pull Nova towards the dressing room with a full rack of clothes draped over her arm, not taking no for an answer.

Altair was calmly leaning up against a wall with his arms crossed, and he waved a hand at the saleswoman, ushering her to take Nova away. "Give her the whole nine yards, Trish."

The saleswoman with a grip on Nova, Trish, nodded her head in understanding with a smile. "On it, Altair!"

Nova's eyebrows knitted together as she accusingly looked back and forth between Altair and the saleswoman, Trish, who apparently knew each other. "Wait, did you plan this?"

Altair wore a smug look as he remained casually leaning up against the wall. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."

"Altair!" Nova angrily shouted his name as she was shoved into a dressing room with an armful of clothes to try on.

 _"Zzzzzt, Nova, you justzzzz got played!"_

"Rotom, not now!"

* * *

Several shopping bags filled with tops, skirts, shorts, dresses, and shoes later...

Altair leaned his forearm up against the door of the dressing room, resting his forehead on it as he sighed deeply. "Come on, Nova! You have to come out of there at some point, you know... I'm sure you look great!"

A sarcastic scoff belonging to none other than Nova came from the other side of the door. "Oh, I'm sorry, I do not recall asking for your opinion."

Altair rolled his eyes as he began to gather the shopping bags of all of the things Nova was for sure getting. "Harsh as ever."

Trish, the sales associate, looked over at Altair as a nervous bead of sweat rolled down her forehead, awkwardly smiling as she listened to their hostile banter. "Is this...normal for you two?"

"Don't worry about it, Trish." Altair waved her off and dismissed her concern, turning to knock on the door once more. "Hey, Nova! How long do you plan on holing yourself up in-there..." He immediately stopped as the door to the dressing room suddenly opened, and Nova stepped outside. "Whoa."

The last thing she had to try on was a beautiful champagne evening gown that hit the floor in a cascading shower of glittery chiffon. It was a halter top that hugged her around the waist, and several intricate swirls of beading covered the bodice of the dress, all the way from the waist up to the two strings tied around her neck. The champagne color really brought out her orange eyes and made her white hair shine bright, and Altair was awe-struck at the sight of her.

"Is it that bad...?" Nova self-consciously grabbed fistfuls of the sparkling fabric at her hips, nervously biting at her lip as she stared down at the dress she was wearing.

Altair struggled to breathe at the sight of her, let alone form words. He was truly stunned by his own reaction to the sight of her, never really having been affected so much by another person before. "I...do not know what I was expecting, but that certainly wasn't it."

Nova frowned at his indifferent comment, immediately turning back to dash into the dressing room. "Okay, that settles it, I'm going to change!"

Altair lunged forward and grabbed a hold of her wrist, stopping her from running away from him. "No no no, wait! Nova! I didn't mean that in a negative way!"

Nova hesitantly turned back to look at Altair with a wavering gaze, feeling her cheeks heat up just at the sight of him looking at her so awe-struck. "...fine. I guess I'll get this too, then."

Altair went ahead and picked up all of the bags from the purchases they had made today while Nova changed back into her normal clothes in the dressing room, and when she came back out with the dress in hand, Altair eagerly began rushing her towards the door.

"Come on! We've got plenty of things left on our agenda today." Altair ushered her towards the door, excited to keep showing her around the city before the sun set later on.

Nova skidded to a halt as she slid the dress into one of the bags. "Wait, don't I need to pay for these first?"

Altair dismissed her concern with an aloof shrug, brushing her off. "Nah, my mother owns the boutique, so it's free for me."

Nova dropped her jaw as she stared at his back walking away from her, effortlessly carrying the several bags of designer clothing. "Wait, what!?"

"Come on, let's get going!" Altair chuckled as he walked ahead, fully knowing that she had some sort of amazingly confused expression written all over her silly face right about now.

Nova jogged to catch up to him as they exited the mall. "Wait, Altair...! Where are we going now?"

Altair turned to look at her over his shoulder with a smirk stretched across his lips. "To the beach."

Nova slumped her shoulders in shock as she stared at the man in front of her incredulously. "Wait, the beach? But I don't even have a swimsuit!"

"Yes you do." Altair calmly stated as he held up one of the bags in particular, and Nova quickly snatched it from him.

Nova pulled out a sunflower-yellow two-piece swimsuit, having the most confused look stretched across her face as she looked it over. "...you bought me a swimsuit? Are you kidding me? How did you even know my size!?"

Altair nonchalantly looked her up and down before just shrugging his shoulders. "Eh, I just kind of guessed."

Nova awkwardly wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling very self-conscious under his gaze. "You're too observant for your own good."

Altair turned to look back at her, not having heard that nearly inaudible, snarky comment. "Hmm? You say something?"

Nova arrogantly turned her chin up to the sky as she stomped ahead of him. "Nah, I just muttered curses under my breath about how you're an ass."

Altair nodded his head as he followed behind her, completely unfazed by that cold-hearted response. "Ah. So the usual, then. Let's go grab lunch first, because I'm starving."

Nova turned back to smile at him at the sound of his suggestion. "Sounds good to me."

* * *

At a small restaurant by the marina...

Altair wore an amazed, incredulous smile on his face as he quirked an eyebrow at the sight of Nova stuffing sushi roll after sushi roll into her face. "Do you normally eat this much?"

With her mouth half-full of her fourth, eight-piece sushi roll, Nova flashed him an annoyed look as she spoke. "What's it to you? I have a big appetite, alright?"

Altair chuckled at her defensive response. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to sound rude." He shook his head slowly in amazement as she kept devouring bite after bite. "I'm just...not used to seeing a girl eat this much. And eat this much openly in front of me."

Nova swallowed the last piece of sushi as she quirked an eyebrow at him. "You must hang around weird people."

Altair let out a small scoff, staring down at his own chopsticks and empty plate. "Hah... Yeah, I guess I do."

Altair slipped their server enough cash to cover both the bill and the tip before Nova could even process what he was doing, and they quickly left for the beach with all their shopping bags from before, as well as a picnic basket packed with some sandwiches and a blanket. The two changed into their swimsuits at the restaurant before they left, and as they began to walk along the sand together, Nova turned to Altair with an unsure look on her face.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Nova stared at him accusingly, as if she were expecting him to have some other hidden reason for hanging around her.

"What do you mean?" Altair stared at her puzzled as he walked alongside her and the ocean beside them.

Nova rose a single eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You're teaching me how to be a Trainer, taking me on a shopping spree, treating me to lunch, and now we're spending the rest of our day at the beach. What's the catch?"

Altair stared at her for the longest time before he simply just shook his head. "There is no catch. I just want a chance for us to get to know one another better before we really start our quest around Melemele Island." He paused long enough to shoot her an irritatingly charming smirk. "Is that so strange?"

Nova frowned, feeling a little guilty of how suspicious she was being of Altair after all the nice things he did for her today. "I guess not... Sorry, I'm just not used to having friends."

Altair's eyes lit up like stars as he grinned mischievously at Nova. "Oh, so we're friends now?"

Nova bitterly smiled as she snapped at him. "Shut the fuck up."

Altair laughed, then suddenly came to a halt and reached out to grab Nova. "Oh, Nova, watch out for that Pyukumuku!"

Nova stared at him in confusion before her eyes suddenly darted down to the sand below her, and her eyes locked on a small black blob of a Pokemon that she was about to step on. "The what...? AH!" Altair grabbed her just in time and pulled her back towards him as Nova began to freak out. "Holy shit! What the fuck? You guys just have these things laying around out here!?"

Altair was laughing so hard at Nova's startled reaction that tears were pricking at his eyes. He had to hold onto his stomach and wipe away at the tears forming in his eyes as he laughed at her. "They get washed up on the beach all the time here in Alola, Nova. You really should keep an eye out for them." He bent down and gently picked up the small Pokemon before walking over to the ocean and carefully releasing it back into it.

"Duly noted..." Nova stared at his back in awe, amazed at how different Alola was from every other place she had lived.

Altair stretched out the blanket on their spot on the sand, plopping their shopping bags at the edge of it. Nova was quick to get comfortable laying in the sun, and she threw on both her shades and replacement white sun hat that she bought today as she relaxed under the Alolan sun. Altair went for a swim in the ocean nearby, making sure to keep an eye on Nova as she relaxed alone on the beach. Nova was so comfortable under the sun's warmth that she felt as if she could take a nap right then and there, but then a startling squawking noise suddenly drew her attention.

Nova sat up and pulled down her sunglasses as she looked in the direction that bird-like squawk came from, and her eyes landed on a tiny little Rufflet combing the beach for any bits of food the other beach goers and tourists had left behind.

Nova tried not to pay any attention to the hungry Pokemon as she glanced over at their picnic basket, and she went ahead and pulled a little cucumber sandwich from it. As she went to take a bite of the sandwich, she felt a pair of eyes on her, and she slowly turned to see that same Rufflet standing right next to her, intently staring at her sandwich.

"Ah!" Nova jumped back with surprise, causing the Rufflet to also step back with alarm as he shook out his feathers. She stared at the small bird Pokemon's large, cutesy doe-eyes skeptically for a moment before looking back at her sandwich, and she sighed heavily as she gave in and held it out towards the Rufflet. "Here. Take it."

"Squawk!" The little Rufflet excitedly grabbed the sandwich from Nova with his beak and began munching away on the sandwich, extremely grateful for Nova's generosity. He was absolutely starving, but that sandwich had him feeling happy and full in no time.

Nova sighed and was about to lay back down and get comfortable sun bathing once more when she noticed the Rufflet was still there, and she stared at him strangely. The Rufflet took a couple of clumsy steps towards her, and Nova instantly held up her hands in defense. "Oh no, hold on. I was just giving you food, because you seemed hungry. Don't go imprinting on me now!" Her eyes flew over to her companion exiting the water and heading back over to her, and she called out to him in a panic. "Altair! Altair!"

Altair chuckled at the sight of the little Rufflet snuggling up to Nova blissfully, and Nova looking very weirded out by all of the affection. "Haha! Looks like you made a new friend."

Nova scowled over at him as she got snappy real fast. "I didn't mean to! It was an accident!"

Altair stopped at the edge of the blanket and sighed as his hands found their way to his hips, and he looked down at the wild Rufflet that had imprinted himself on Nova. "Well... That Rufflet looks pretty attached to you, Nova. What do you plan to do with him?"

Nova looked genuinely lost as she stared up at Altair, and she awkwardly glanced down at the Rufflet who had snuggled himself right up to Nova's side. "Uh... Run fast and hope he doesn't find me?"

Altair scoffed and shook his head at her. "No, Nova. What I mean is...do you want to take him with you?"

Nova's eyebrows shot up into her hairline as she met Altair's eyes. "I can do that?"

Altair reached back and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Well, I mean... It's not the most conventional way to catch a Pokemon, but he does really seem to like you. And..."

"And?" Nova impatiently leaned her head forwards, not really liking where this was going.

Altair chuckled as he looked at the Rufflet happily cuddling Nova once more. "And... Well, I don't think you could get rid of him even if you tried."

Nova looked down at the Rufflet who was now snuggled in her lap sound asleep. "Fucking hell..."

Altair let out a loud laugh at Nova's bitter attitude. "You sure do have quite the tendency to curse, don't you?"

Nova was quick to look up and glare at him as she flipped him off. "Mind your own fucking business!"

Altair held his stomach as he continued to laugh harder. She was just so cute whenever she was trying to be angry. "Haha, I'm just saying!"

"Goddamn it..." Nova cursed under her breath, sighing in defeat as she looked down at the adorable Rufflet in her lap. "Fine, I guess you can come with me." She pulled an empty Pokeball from her bag and gently tapped it on the sleeping Rufflet's head, and a white light quickly enveloped Rufflet and pulled him inside. Nova held the Pokeball in the palm of her hand as she watched it to see if Rufflet would be captured peacefully, and to her immediate surprise, Rufflet was successfully captured without Nova even needing to lift a finger.

"Congratulations, Nova." Altair excitedly clapped his hands together. "You just caught your first Pokemon!"

Nova looked half disgusted, half fed up as she flickered her eyes up at Altair in defeat. "Does it really count as me catching a Pokemon if the damn thing just sorta imprinted on me after I shared my sandwich with him?"

Altair shrugged his shoulders with an awkward smile on his face. "I guess so."

"Well then." Nova bobbed her head as she stared down at Rufflet's Pokeball in her hand. "Alright. Gotta say, I was not expecting my day to go like this when I woke up this morning."

"Same here." Altair stared down at the peaceful look on Nova's face, finding himself wearing the most calm, blissful smile.

Nova looked up to see Altair staring at her so...so... Transfixed? She felt the heat rise up on her cheeks immediately, and she found herself wondering if that was just the sun getting to her, or if she was feeling flustered at the sight of Altair only in swim trunks with his rippling muscles and toned abs completely exposed. The two shared an awkward moment of silence as they just stared into one another's eyes with giddy smiles on their faces, but Altair quickly shook his head and snapped out of whatever trance he was in. Nova's smile quickly fell from her face as she felt awkward by him looking away from her so suddenly, and she harshly cleared her throat.

Nova ran her fingers through her hair as she tucked Rufflet's Pokeball safely into her bag alongside Popplio's, and she slowly stood up to face Altair as she looked off into the distance behind him and pointed at something. "Hey, Altair... What's that?"

"Huh?" Altair looked at her sort of puzzled for a moment before he turned to try and see what she was looking at. But by the time he noticed there was absolutely nothing there, it was too late. "What is it...WHOA!"

Nova tackled Altair with full force and took the six-foot-four guy down into the ocean, laughing all the way. "Ahahah! This is payback for everything you've done to me in the last twenty-four hours!" She chuckled as she wrestled with him in the water, and the two of them were getting completely drenched in salt water in the process.

Altair laughed good and hard as he quickly gained control over the wrestling match, pulling Nova into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her so tight that she was too trapped in his grip to try anything. "Oh, NOW you've done it!"

"Ahaha!" Nova started to genuinely...laugh. Laugh as if she were having fun. She chuckled hysterically as Altair kept thrashing around in the water with her, tickling her sides every chance he got. "No, stop...! That tickles!"

Altair mischievously smirked at her as he grabbed her once more, picking her up out of the water and holding her in his arms like a princess as he stood tall in the shallow water. "You should've thought about that before you pushed me in the water!"

Nova's eyes quickly widened in horror as she realized what Altair was about to do, laughing incredulously. "Wait, no, Altair, don't...!"

Altair threw her up and into the air as hard as he could, laughing along with her as she hit the water with a huge splash. The two spent the next hour wrestling each other in the water and splashing one another, and they spent hour after hour together on that beach under the Alolan sun.

* * *

Completely soaked and dripping wet in her yellow bikini, Nova sheepishly stood in the lobby of the Pokemon Center with a towel around her shoulders as she was catching up with Lillie and Hau. Altair stood by the front counter, equally soaked, trying to arrange with Nurse Joy two rooms to rent for both him and Nova for the night.

"So where are you guys staying?" Nova looked over at the eleven-year-old boy and sixteen-year-old girl, genuinely worried as to whether they had a place for the night or not.

Hau beamed at Nova's concern. "My Auntie lives by the marina, so Lillie and I are staying with her!" He suddenly paused and frowned a little as he looked over at Altair talking to Nurse Joy. "I would invite you and Altair too, but it's a small house, so..."

"Oh no, that's okay." Nova quickly interrupted him with a half-smile, eagerly waving her hand in front of her defensively. "We can afford to rent a room if needed. You two are still kids! Take advantage of the free place to stay while you can."

"Thank you for understanding, Nova." Lillie flashed her a guilty smile, wringing her hands around the strap of her bag.

"Ah, don't worry about it." Nova smiled at Lillie for the first time ever, really, shocking Lillie immensely as Nova turned to call out to her companion. "Hey, Altair, what's the hold up?"

Altair looked back at her with a slight frown on his face. "Well... There's only one room left, but it's a double queen. Do you mind sharing?"

Nova wore a grumpy expression and she rose an eyebrow at him. "Do I really have a choice?"

"Not really." Altair grinned at her sheepishly.

Nova bitterly frowned as she nodded her head once. "Sharing it is."

With Nova's approval, Altair turned back to face Nurse Joy with a smile as he handed her his credit card. "I'll take it. Thank you for your help."

Lillie worriedly looked from Altair over to Nova with an awkward expression on her face. "Are you going to be okay with that, Nova...?"

Nova cocked her head to the side in confusion. "What, sharing a room with Altair?" She scoffed immediately at Lillie's concern, not feeling even remotely bothered by the situation. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm not worried about him trying anything."

Lillie's eyebrows shot up into her hairline. "Seriously? But I thought you two really...clicked."

"Not in that way." Nova quickly shot down any idea Lillie had in her head of herself and Altair. "And besides... Altair said it himself: he's not looking to date anyone right now."

That was the first Lillie had heard of that. "Really?" Her eyes widened in surprise.

Nova wore an equally surprised look as she stared at Lillie's reaction. "What, you didn't know that?"

"No, he's never talked to me about something like that before." Lillie shook her head no, then awkwardly slumped her posture as she frowned a little. "I mean, I've only known him for the three months I've been staying with the Professor, but..." She paused, then looked over at Altair's back facing her. "I guess that makes sense why I've never seen him with a girlfriend."

What, another person swearing by Altair's surprisingly single status?

Nova stared at Altair's back facing her as she shook her head back and forth in amazement. "I swear, this guy just keeps getting weirder and weirder..."

Hau took a hold of Lillie's arm, ushering her towards the door. "C'mon, Lillie. We should probably get going! Don't want to keep Auntie waiting."

Lillie smiled as she nodded her head. "Alright, Hau!" She turned and waved to Nova before walking out the door with Hau. "Bye, Nova. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." Nova waved good-bye as she watched the two young ones leave the Pokemon Center, and as she was about to turn and join Altair at the front counter, her eyes landed on two tourists who were having an unusually loud conversation.

"I saw those Team Skull morons loitering around the marina again." The male tourist with sandy brown hair commented to the black-haired female tourist, thoroughly annoyed.

The woman looked surprised by this. "No, you're kidding!"

"I wish I was." The guy rolled his eyes. "I reported it to the Captain, of course."

The woman bit down on her lip as she furrowed her brow. "This is what happens when young people have nothing to do and too much time on their hands."

The guy sighed sharply and crossed his arms. "What a bunch of useless thugs! All they do is drag Trainers into battles they don't want and try to steal their Pokemon!"

The woman leaned closer to the man as she lowered her voice to him. "I heard they keep trying to sneak into the Trial Site to steal Pokemon to sell...and that they fail every single time!"

"Nova, you coming?"

"Oh, right... Sorry." Nova tore her gaze away from the two tourists when she felt his hand on her shoulder and turned to face Altair, taking some of their bags from him to help him carry the load.

The two walked up to the second floor and stopped at room 101, and Altair swung all of his bags on one arm as he pulled out the key from his pocket with his free hand. "Well, this is it."

Nova followed Altair into the room and stopped in the entrance, marveling over the sea foam green, exquisitely decorated beach-themed room with a stunning view of the ocean. "Wow. I didn't realize Pokemon Centers even had rooms as nice as this."

"Yeah, they usually use the second floor for traveling Trainers who need a room for the night." Altair threw the room key down on the desk as he plopped the bags down on the floor, taking his towel from around his shoulders and using it to dry off his jet-black hair. "And that would be us, in this case." He looked up and over at Nova, pausing his towel-drying for a moment. "Which bed do you want? Any preference?"

"I don't really care." Nova shook her head as she set down her half of the bags on the floor, pulling a change of clothes out of one of them and heading towards the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower and get some of this sand off of me."

"Alright. I'm just going to get changed out here." Altair calmly stated as he began to undress with barely any warning, and Nova quickly scuttled into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

Nova turned on the hot water and let out a relaxed sigh as she took her shower as scalding as she could take it, scrubbing all of the sand out of her curly white hair. As her mind trailed off, she found herself recalling what Altair, his students, and Lillie had said today about his strangely single status.

 _"Are you and Mr. Knight dating!? Because we've never seen him with a girl before."_

 _"I've only known him for the three months I've been staying with the Professor, but... I guess that makes sense why I've never seen him with a a girlfriend."_

 _"I just have no desire to be in a relationship with someone."_

Nova frowned as she thought these things over to herself. Just why was Altair single, anyways...? Or, rather, why did he prefer to stay single? With his infuriatingly charming smile and devilishly handsome features, he could get any girl he wanted. Not to mention that he was the Island Challenge Champion of Alola. So why didn't he...?

"And I thought I was supposed to be the anti-social hermit out of the two of us..." Nova muttered to herself under her breath as she turned off the water, but the sound of the bathroom door opening immediately made her shoulders go rigid. "Hello? Altair...?" No answer came, and just as Nova was about to poke her head out around the shower curtain, a large bucket suddenly appeared over the top of the shower rod, and Nova looked up just in time to see the ice-cold water come cascading down on her. "AHHH! OH MY GOD, WHAT THE HELL!? ALTAIR!"

"AHAHAH! I WISH I COULD HAVE SEEN THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE JUST NOW!"

"I'M SERIOUSLY GOING TO KILL YOU, ALTAIR!"

* * *

Fully dressed in a fresh change of clothes, Nova exited the bathroom with her damp hair and immediately walked over to the front door. "I'm going out."

Altair, who was now fully dressed and laying on one of the beds reading a book, immediately sat up in alarm at the sight of her trying to leave. "What, is this about the water bucket thing?"

Nova turned back to glare at him harshly for a moment. "No, actually. I just overheard something earlier that rubbed me the wrong way, and I wanted to look into it." She paused for a moment as she wondered if Altair knew anything about the subject. After all, he was the Island Challenge Champion; if anyone knew about a group of thugs on the island, it would be him, right? "Do you know anything about Team Skull?" Nova shifted her weight from one leg to another as she looked over at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Team Skull?" Altair's voice immediately dropped into a lower tone as he snapped his book closed and stood up from his bed. "Where did you hear about those misguided idiots from?"

'So he did know,' Nova thought to herself as she met his strong gaze. "I overheard a conversation between a couple of locals in the lobby about them. Who are they?"

Altair looked strangely distant as he stared at her with a severe expression on his face. "Just a bunch of wannabe ruffians who run with a crowd that's a bad influence on them." He frowned as he jammed his hands in the pockets of the black hoodie he was wearing. "I know a couple of the Trainer School kids from the older classes dropped out to join their gang." He readjusted his posture as he glared off at nothing in particular. "I really don't like what ideas they're putting in the minds of our kids..."

Nova admired how much Altair cared for his students, even the ones he didn't even teach personally. "Hmm... Then it's definitely something worth looking into."

"What is?" Altair quirked an eyebrow at the white-haired beauty before him.

Nova nodded her head decisively as she swung her bag over her shoulder and turned to grab the doorknob. "I'm going to the marina for a bit. I'll be back soon."

"Now where do you think you're going without me?" Altair jogged over to her as he placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her from leaving just yet.

Nova widened her eyes in shock as she turned to look up into his eyes. "What, you're coming?" She froze as she realized she had turned directly into his chest, and there was absolutely no space between them at all. She swallowed hard in embarrassment as she held his intense gaze.

Altair leaned closer and grabbed the doorknob behind her with an eager grin on his face. "Of course I am. Did you really think I would let you walk around in a huge city this late at night by yourself?" He wore an irritatingly smug look on his face as he opened the door for her, and he ushered her to step out first. "Nova, if you're going somewhere, we go together."

Nova smiled a little to herself as she nodded her head. "Alright. Together it is."

* * *

 **Wow, has it been a while. Sorry about that, guys. Life has been keeping me very busy lately, and I haven't had the time or motivation to write in months. I don't want to make any promises about when I'll update next, because I really don't know, but now that I'm done with conventions for the year, I would like to put more time aside for writing. I've found motivation for writing this book all over again, so I'd like to start working on it more.**

 **Thanks everyone for being so patient and understanding with me. I've had a lot going on lately, but it's nothing to worry about. I want to try and get on wattpad more often again and be more active like I used to be, but we shall see how that goes with college and all XD**

 **So, what did you guys think of the new chapter? I'm sure it has been very long awaited XD sorry about that.**

 **Read, review, and enjoy!**


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